Turning Point
by Lexma
Summary: Pre-Bayverse AU. It's just a slightly abnormal assignment, nothing the three of them can't handle. At least, nothing they can't handle as long as someone doesn't go off and make things even more complicated than they need to be. Jazz x Prowl. Mirage x OC.
1. Assignment

I don't own Transformers (sadly).

This is not my first FF ever but it is the first one I've actually decided to publish so feedback is welcome. Originally I just wanted some background for my Bayverse FF I'm working on but needless to say it escalated quickly from there. Yes, I paired a mech x mech couple with a femme x mech couple in the same story but no amount of flaming is gonna change the fact that I like this particular mech x mech pairing. Alright I've kept you long enough, enjoy!

* * *

Drift makes sure his feet make no sound as he heads down the hall that contains all the quarters of Spec Ops agents, when they're not out. The action itself is second nature, easy; most days he has to consciously make an effort in order to make a sound as he walks. Today though, he doesn't want to, not when going to meet this particular trio. They weren't all originally under his command but their commanding officers couldn't deal with them anymore so they ended up in his division because he was supposedly "more tolerant of insolence". At first he hadn't been sure if Optimus's idea to throw all of them in the same room would work but somehow they balanced each other out.

When Drift reaches their room he calmly hacks the lock and barges in unannounced, which is his standard method to approaching these three to see how much they're paying attention. This time none of them even twitch or look at him, which confirms his most likely suspicion on why his three best agents usually jumped when he barged into their room; they'd simply been acting. Not very surprising really, no one else in the division jumps when startled, they attack. Though, considering these three it's probably better they jump when Drift barges in, rather than attack him and get penalized for assaulting a superior officer. Of course, he could always stop barging in but where's the fun in that?

A slight smile forms on his face as he allows his gaze to wander over the room. Jazz is sitting at the workbench going over a few of his weapons; no surprise there really, even though he doesn't always have a weapon in hand during on mission, the mech likes to be prepared. Drift has always respected that particular aspect of Jazz to such a degree that Jazz is on the list of candidates to take over Spec Ops. The next thing to catch Drift's gaze is Mirage, tinkering with something or other that looks eerily similar to some of those hologram projectors the trackers use. For a moment Drift wonders where Mirage got it, but quickly dismisses the thought to avoid the inevitable processor ache. He scours the room for the last member of the trio and eventually his gaze returns to where he started. There, stretched across the top shelf of the work bench, is Speedeagle. Her optics are shuttered and her perch is obviously precarious despite her compact size, it's a wonder she hasn't fallen off yet.

"Normally when one barges into another's room, they have some important business to state," Mirage comments. "Unless of course the intruder simply wants to be rude or bothersome."

Drift narrows his optics at Mirage; why the mech insisted on being so proper and formal on occasion is beyond him. How Jazz and Speedeagle tolerate it and hadn't yet strangled Mirage is beyond him. Today isn't the day to get those questions answered though. "I'm sending you three out for an undercover mission in Praxus."

Though no outward change takes places, Drift can feel all three of them focus their attention on him and him alone. That's natural to him though, being TIC of the Autobots will do that to a mech. Though honestly, he wasn't sure why he was TIC some days because it didn't always feel like he was doing his job. For the sake of everyone involved though, he wasn't about to complain. It makes sense in several ways to have the Head of Special Operations be the TIC of the Autobots, for security reasons as well to solve any trust issues within the ranks.

Speedeagle jumps off the workbench to the floor, stretching like a catbot. "Have a seat then and tell us more. Unless you are teasing us?" Drift remains standing, but leans against a wall; Speedeagle isn't necessarily a slave to her animal instincts, but no sane bot plays dominance games quite like she does, either. _No bot except for maybe a Praxian._

"Though Praxus is Neutral we do get several recruits out of there. However, the past two times our transport shuttle picked up another batch over half of them didn't show and were never heard from again. We believe there is a leak somewhere and right now our best lead is it's one of the local Enforcers." Drift pauses momentarily to study their reactions. Mirage looks skeptical and Speedeagle sputters, but Jazz has his back to Drift so he can't see Jazz's face.

"It seems far-fetched but it's the best we have. Now I can't send you guys in there to directly look into the incidents because it would attract far too much attention. Luckily, the Enforcers are currently hung up on a case involving some missing weaponry and stolen intelligence about the city that would benefit the Decepticons. If there is a mech on the inside-"

Speedeagle cuts Drift off "He'll do what he can to warp evidence and slow the case until his buddies are long gone."

Drift nods, deciding to ignore being interrupted for now when Mirage takes over. "We can go in under the guise of helping with the current case while monitoring for anyone who might be working for the Decepticons."

Jazz sets down what he was working on and turns around "If we can grab th' mech we can stop any further mass murderin' of recruits an' hopefully help th' Enforcers solve th' current case an' keep th' goods away from Megatron." He mulls it over "Yeah we'll manage, get ready ya two."

"Aht" Drift holds his hand up, making them pause. "The tactical division put in a request for whoever I gave this assignment to: while you're working with the Enforcers they want you to scout one of their younger members, designation Prowl. Apparently he's real good, good enough to be worth enlisting while on this assignment."

All three of them exchange a glance, but Jazz is the one who voices the thought "That's good enough to put him on th' 'Con's radar."

"I know so keep an optic on him. That's the main reason I need all three of you on this mission; it'll take at least two of you to go through and investigate all the enforcers plus another to keep an eye on Prowl. Now then, your transport leaves in a few joors. Your designations I have set up for this mission are as follows: Speedeagle, you're using Stormclaw, Mirage you're Dino, and Jazz…I think Meister would be best for you this go-round." Drift watches for a breem or two as the three of them turn to get ready before he turns and walks out of the room.

Jazz starts to reconfigure his looks to turn himself into Meister for the time being. Part of his job entailed that he could use sorcelling to blend in after all. Mirage can do something similar when he has to play the role of "Dino" for a while, but Speedeagle…she can't do anything similar to this. It isn't really necessary though, "Stormclaw" has a broken t-cog that can't be fixed or replaced so she only has her root form. The only problem is Speedeagle can't remain in root form for more than hour or two at a time. Jazz and 'Raj will need to keep her out of the spotlight so as not to push her (shaky at best) control.

They finish and head to the transport shuttle that's already waiting for them. Jazz settles himself down on a chair and glances at the other two. Mirage is looking at him, waiting for the plan while Speedeagle stares out the window. However, one of her audios is turned to hear what Jazz has to say. He suppresses a smile, though several bots had asked him how they worked together he'd never come up with a decent short answer. The three of them could talk without speaking, without even using a comm. link. They trust each other to watch their backs whenever they can't do it themselves and coming from a Spec Ops agent that's saying a lot.

On top of all that, they managed to establish a hierarchy that they all agreed apon, one that put Jazz in charge "Alright then. Mirage you and Ah will be takin' point on this an' do most of the work with th' Enforcers. Speedeagle, after we get set up I want ya to tail th' patrols, discreetly mind ya, to see if you catch a whiff of a 'con. It's a long shot if this one hasn't had much interaction lately but it's always worth a try. Ah only want ya tailing patrols when this Prowl is on duty. When he isn't on duty Ah need ya to do two things; one, figure out where his loyalties might lie; two, keep him safe from any 'Con attacks."

Her audio turns back to its normal position and she nods, still not looking at Jazz. He shrugs it off and turns his full attention on Mirage. "Now, this 'con must certainly have a good setup so here's how Ah think we should do this…"


	2. Why Do We Need Consultants?

This one's a short chapter but the next one will be up soon, promise. If anything seems confusing or I need to explain myself further please just let me know, because I have a tendency to not explain myself as well as I should.

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Prowl frowns and glances over at his partner, Barricade. "It seems our team of consultants is late."

Barricade shrugs "What do you expect? Some people just don't know how to keep a schedule especially-" He gets interrupted by the door of the conference room slamming open.

"Sorry we're late" the slate gray mech in front says "Got turned around." He settles in the chair directly across from Prowl. The other mech, a blue-and-white combo, takes the seat across from Barricade. Prowl glances back behind them expectantly but no one else walks into the room.

"I was informed there were three of you" Prowl glances at the two of them.

"Our teammate isn't very social and doesn't react well to these kinds of things. We might call her in for a favor or two when we need her expertise but that's probably about it. You'll mainly be working with us, unless something is wrong with that?" The slate gray mech smiles at Prowl.

"I suppose not, logically though it makes no sense to have someone on your team who cannot even sit through something as simple as a meeting. May I point out that you are the ones who decided to get involved in this case? We did not ask for your help" Prowl eyes the slate gray mech as he speaks.

"It'll have to suffice for now, designation Meister at your service" Meister extends his hand out to Prowl.

"Prowl" He gives the offending hand a shake then pulls back, only raw self control allowing him to maintain his composure. Something about Meister is quite unnerving, off putting even, though Prowl can't put his finger on what.

The blue-and-white mech coughs. "You'll have to forgive him, he can be crazier than our division's certifiably insane flyer. I'm Dino" Dino shakes hands with Barricade and settles back in his chair, shooting a Meister a cold glance.

"Our missing teammate is Stormclaw. She's probably getting our rooms in the city lined out for the duration of our stay. If you or any other Enforcer on patrol sees her don't make her feel cornered, it will end badly" Meister supplies, ignoring Dino. Prowl raises an optic ridge and turns on a private comm. with Barricade.

::What do you think the problem is on their end?::

::If I knew I'd tell you and if you don't know I certainly can't figure it out. All I know is Meister is staring at you an awful lot::

::Is he? I hadn't really noticed::

::How can you not notice?::

Prowl observes the newcomers again, noticing that Meister is indeed staring him down. He can't disconcert a logical reason to be stared at in such a manner. Before he can mention it though Meister starts talking "So do you have any leads?"

"No, there has been no evidence to point to a specific bot or party. Nor does it match any other crime we've had to deal with in the past" Prowl answers without hesitation.

"Is there any evidence at all?"

"None, we can only tell that this job was pulled off by one or two mechs."

"So whoever pulled this off knows everything to get rid of in order to cover their tracks?"

"It would appear that way."

"So this bot would need extensive knowledge on Enforcer procedure?"

"There is a less than 10% chance that an Enforcer would either provide assistance with or commit such a crime and only an Enforcer would have the training in looking for evidence to know what to get rid of or prevent."

"There's a chance isn't there?"

Meister's last question makes Prowl pause as he goes over the facts. Honestly not much is known about the crime besides that it couldn't have been done by more than one or two bots since they've been able to avoid detection. They would need to know a lot in order to work in the limited amount of time, erase all evidence, and pull the job off flawlessly without raising the alarm. Prowl's battle computer ups the odds to a little over 20%. He frowns as he turns his gaze on Meister "Why are you so certain that an Enforcer did it?"

Meister shrugs "I'm not. I'm just asking if it's a possibility. We have to investigate every possibility after all."

"The Enforcers do the investigating" Prowl retorts, feeling himself getting frustrated by this other mech. "You are consultants, remember?"

"Of course" Meister smiles, his tone almost smug "Consultants." Dino glances between Prowl and Meister before getting Meister's attention.

"We should go, the solar cycle will be over soon and I think we can both agree we shouldn't leave Stormclaw alone for too long. Especially when she's not on her home turf."


	3. You Know Me Too Well

Another sort-of short chapter, but it's longer than the last one. Once again, reviews are quite welcome.

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Jazz drags his attention from Prowl and turns it to Mirage, hating that the mech has a point. "I suppose we should return" Jazz grins and turns his attention back to Prowl. This is a mission so he isn't really supposed to get emotionally involved. That doesn't deter him from the urge to tease the tactical Enforcer "Perhaps we can discuss going over all the information we have tomorrow, Prowler?"

"Excuse me?" The normally still doorwings he'd been fixated on since he walked in twitch at the comment and Jazz suppresses a chuckle.

"What's wrong; don't like the nickname, Prowler?" Jazz practically purrs out the last word then yelps when he gets yanked roughly out of his chair and dragged from the room.

"I or Stormclaw will contact you later." Mirage growls over his shoulder as he continues to drag Jazz from the room, down the corridors, and out of the precinct, ignoring all the curious stares that follow them out. "Let's go before you do something stupid."

"Define the word stupid and I'll get back to you on that."

"No, let's go or I'll activate THAT protocol" Mirage narrows his optics at Jazz.

He just sighs and transforms "Fine, fine, let's go back. Don't resort to your trump card just yet there Dino." Jazz puts a little emphasis on the word and Mirage transforms, a smug engine rev recognizing the frustrated tone because no one and nothing can stop Speedeagle when Hunter Protocol is activated. The drawback is it drains her and she can't use it again for a while, but the time varies depending on the task. The shortest recovery time on record is three joors which isn't very promising. It was after all, that extended recovery time that forced Shockwave to give up on her as one of his projects. Though why that crazy scientist had wanted to design a soldier based on something out of mythology was beyond Jazz.

They head back and enter the condo Drift had rented out for them. Speedeagle is stretched out across the back of the couch and looks up with critical optics as they walk in. "Alright, who does our team leader fancy this time?" She glances at Mirage.

Jazz snorts "What makes ya think Ah've taken a likin' ta anyone?"

"Subtle changes in body language" Speedeagle dilates her optics before converting them back again, making Jazz swear under his breath.

"Your eyesight's too good if ya ask meh" he mutters, flopping down in the nearest chair. Mirage on the other hand settles on the couch, leaning his head back against Speedeagle's shoulder.

"Shockwave always said it wasn't good enough" she growls out the first word.

Jazz waves his hand dismissively "Let's not trigger a rampage shall we? Did ya manage ta get a whiff of everyone out on patrol since we've arrived?"

Speedeagle nods "Yes, but none of them smell remotely like Decepticons."

"Ah figured, alright Prowl should be at th' precinct for a little longer, follow him home and keep a sharp eye out for any 'Cons or anything he can't handle on his own. If he happens to respond to something see how well he works and what that processor of his can handle. Don't make any trouble" Jazz adds knowing that had he left the last bit off Speedeagle would have created a scenario to test Prowl's capabilities. She pouts but jumps off the back of the couch and propels herself out the window into the skies of Praxus without another word.

Mirage watches her leave before turning his optics on Jazz. "How you have already managed to make this assignment more complicated than it already is confounds me." He stands and goes to get a cube from the dispenser.

"Why ya and Speedeagle haven't hooked up yet confounds meh" Jazz retorts. It's an old argument that's been going back and forth between them for a while, nothing new. Mirage doesn't answer, settling for ignoring Jazz.

He decides to give Mirage what he wants "Were you even paying attention at that meeting? For starters, Prowl's well...ya saw him." Jazz doesn't bother to put Prowl's looks to words. Words won't do that mech any justice "an' obviously he has some severe self control. Ya know how every littl' emotion Speedeagle gets ya can tell by her wings, but Prowl's doorwings didn't even _twitch_ until th' end! He's smart an' with a good head for tactics too; Ah could practically hear the gears grinding in that processor of his when he was re-evaluating what Ah said."

"How do you know he was re-evaluating what you said?" Mirage asks with a curious note in his voice as he moves to sit back down on the couch.

Jazz rolls his eyes "Don't play th' dumb bot, ya could tell too. That's part of th' reason why we're both Ops, after all." Mirage merely chuckles lifting his cube slightly in agreement before taking a sip.

Silence descends between the two before Mirage speaks up "I'm going to go dark and see if I can turn up anything tonight. If you don't want Speedeagle teasing you in the morning I would suggest you learn how to hide your affections in the future." Mirage disappears from sight and Jazz shakes his head, sensing the spy slip out the window. Last Jazz had checked it would be easy for Mirage to jump to the fire escape from their room and use it to descend safely, not that Jazz or 'Eagle would need to use it.

_'Raj has th' right idea, but Ah think it would be better ta stay Meister for now to see if th' 'Con we're looking for decides to make a move._ He leaves and heads outside.


	4. Hunter vs Prowl

*holds hands up* yes this is an extremely short chapter, but that's just the way I have my story broken up. If I cut it off anywhere else before or after where I did there would be gaps in very awkward places and I don't think anyone wants that. If the third paragraph rambles a bit it's because I believe that some more explanation about Speedeagle is necessary. Please rest assured that the next chapter is going to be the longest one yet so be patient a little bit longer, I should get it up later today.

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Speedeagle waits outside the precinct and eventually watches Prowl step out and transform. She jumps into the air and follows him, keeping at just the right height and distance to not turn up on his radar. He takes a long path back to his place but no incidents occur along the way, much to Speedeagle's dismay. Mirage had informed her of Jazz and Mirage's impromptu spark-to-spark. Both Speedeagle and Mirage agree that while Jazz is how he is, he never talked about anybot the way he had just talked about Prowl.

That makes Speedeagle feel a little curious about the Enforcer and eager for him to get home and retire. The sooner he recharges, the sooner she can move in and investigate his flat to find out more about him, for Jazz's sake. She perches on the roof of the building next to Prowl's and waits patiently. After a while the last of the lights goes out and she jumps off the roof. It's a simple matter to glide to the other side and slip through one of his windows.

After she's satisfied no alarms were tripped off when she came in, Speedeagle sits in the middle of the room and offlines her optics, focusing solely on her sensor net. _A good hunter knows her prey like the back of her hand._ Speedeagle concentrates, taking in all the information of the room that she can collect. That's one advantage to her massive wings; besides the speed they offer in the air the sensor net on them is richer than that of any Seeker's. It's only one of Shockwave's multiple modifications in an attempt to create the perfect assassin. He'd made too many modifications though and she'd almost lost her root form in the process, hence her current handicap of not being able to use it much.

Still, she gathers a lot of information about Prowl and his home using only the sensors in her wings and not thinking too much about it. She processes what information she can (like pictures and records), files some away to sort through later, and the rest gets stored elsewhere to speak to the others about because Speedeagle can't manage to gain any insight from it on her own. It's dangerous to let herself be so focused on information as to cease all movement and surveillance of the area but she's confident Prowl doesn't know she's there and no one else could kill her before she can defend herself.

Once all the information has been filed away Speedeagle pulls herself out of her concentrated state and reboots her optics. The room is dark as pitch but she now knows the layout perfectly so light isn't a necessity to avoid making a sound. Besides, sight alone can't always identify all the places when the floor might squeak or groan from pressure. She soundlessly crosses the house to settle down on the floor in the living area and expands her senor net so if any Decepticon gets too close she'll know right away. Then she allows herself to slip into a light recharge, mindful of the mech in the next room.


	5. Caught By Surprise

The past week has been nothing but frustrating for Prowl. They still had nothing on the mech who had stolen from the Praxus storage vaults and he'd pulled off yet another successful job in filching some Energon. The Iacon consultants hadn't helped much in that area. Dino at least had contributed on more than one occasion but Meister… He challenged Prowl's battle computer, something Prowl would never admit he enjoyed, but also annoyed him to the point of sending Meister off elsewhere to be rid of his presence. The only good thing about the latest theft is Prowl had finally met the last member of the consultant team, Stormclaw.

_*Prowl, Barricade, Meister, and Dino arrived at the scene as soon as the call got put out, assuming they were the first ones to arrive. When they entered the warehouse proper they realized that they were wrong; among the wreckage stood a femme, silver with gold detailing. Barricade, at the time thinking she was one of the thieves, immediately pulled out his blaster and leveled it at her but before even Prowl can react Dino had knocked Barricade's aim off. _

_"She's one of ours" Meister supplied and walked over to the femme. "Stormclaw, how'd you get here before us?"_

_"I was closer and you left your comm. open, again." Stormclaw didn't glance at Meister or anyone else in the room. Prowl studied her for a moment and though his battle computer said otherwise he got a feeling that Stormclaw was a lot more dangerous than she looked."I think we're dealing with two enemies. The one that came here, we didn't miss him by much, half a joor, maybe. The other one though, he's the one who pulls all the strings to make sure the Enforcers show up late, despite their precautions."_

_By the time she finished explaining Stormclaw was shaking and growling. Prowl hadn't had much experience in dealing with turbo hounds though he had plenty with trackers and it sounded like the growl of a bot whose prey had just escaped. Prowl had let his hand hover over his blaster as he watched the scene, doorwings strained to catch every detail. Meister had spoken, his voice low "Get a hold of yourself, going on a rampage won't solve anything right now."Prowl frowned at the tone. He had assumed Dino was the leader of the team so to hear such a tone from Meister well, it threw him a little._

_Speedeagle just let out another strained growl as an answer. Dino stepped in front of Prowl, his full attention on Stormclaw. "Go get them, if it's possible". When she glanced back her optics had been a light, hot blue before she fled the scene without another word._

On top of that Prowl had been experiencing an unexplainable sense of being followed. It started soon after those consultants had shown up and continued every single solar cycle after that without fail. The only time it occurs is on the way back to his residence all the way up until he falls into recharge. He can't be sure if it is a Decepticon or someone else, like a possible friendly. His battle computer points out that it is more likely to be a friendly, but they hadn't come forward about their stalking. That alone is starting to wear on Prowl's nerves. If someone is keeping an optic out for his safety (not that he needs it) he wants to know who and why.

That ends tonight though; he plans to grab this unknown presence that is following him. When he arrives at his flat Prowl goes about his normal routine under the pretense that nothing is wrong so as not to tip off whoever is watching him. Eventually he walks into his berth room, cutting all the lights throughout his flat. However, he plants a false signal device on the berth which is tuned to emit his unique signal at the same time shielding the real signal so there isn't a gap where there is no signal or an overlap where there are two.

Satisfied, he steals back into the living area while focusing his sensor net for any intruders. Eventually he senses his stalker who is slinking across the floor of his living room. He waits a moment for the intruder to get a little closer before tackling them to the ground. They snarl and a small scuffle ensues before the intruder pins Prowl on his back on the floor, clawed hands pinning his arms and a beak very close to his neck. The intruder draws their head back, but pauses with a startled squeak which effectively tips Prowl's battle computer so off it has to reboot, somehow without crashing him.

"Prowl!? What are you doing awake?" The voice sounds familiar and the supposed "intruder" gets up off of him to bring the lights up. The eerily familiar paint job combined with the voice is enough to jar Prowl's stalled battle computer back to life.

"Stormclaw" He frowns at the femme's odd frame. Even though Praxus is neutral, he'd heard of this particular frame design before. There isn't another frame like it anywhere else on Cybertron. "You're undercover aren't you?"

She ducks her head sheepishly so she doesn't have to meet Prowl's optics. "Jazz'll kill me for this one, that's for sure." She mutters as she climbs onto the back of Prowl's couch, stretching across and letting her wings hang limply. "I can't tell you anything so you'll need to figure it out for yourself."

Prowl frowns at her and digs into his files. The femme in front of him is called Speedeagle; a supposedly "failed" experiment of Shockwave's that the Autobots had taken in. She had disappeared off everyone's radar shortly after and most neutrals, Prowl included, had been convinced the Autobots had shown her a particular brand of mercy that isn't very usual for their faction. Everyone had been ready to forgive the Autobots of that since the femme had sounded like a hopeless case. Now it seems, Prowl muses, that they had merely integrated her into their Ops division, which would have taken her off the radar as effectively as killing her. That leaves Prowl with another question; Why would Autobot Ops agents concern themselves with a case of major theft under Praxus jurisdiction and why send someone as unstable as Speedeagle?

He consults his battle computer, which also pulls up the recent losses of life (thought to be random) and the nature of the crimes. With that in mind Prowl turns his gaze back to Speedeagle. She doesn't meet his gaze and everything about her position screams submissive to Prowl's Praxian optics. He pulls up her file again and under a rather alarmingly large section of glitches (including random fits of madness brought on by nothing) it is noted she likes to play dominance games few Cybertronians outside Praxus would understand.

"You and your team are assigned here to investigate the recent deaths and find out who has been leaking information." Prowl means it as a question more than a statement.

Speedeagle seems to get that though. "Yes, you aren't supposed to know though so please keep it to yourself."

Now Prowl's battle computer is laying out all the evidence and condensing down a very small list of suspects. Meister, he remembers, is sure the leak is an Enforcer but this Enforcer had never been to the second crime scene or Speedeagle would have tracked him down by now. Almost every Enforcer in the precinct had tramped over the old crime scene so there was no possible way for even Speedeagle to pick out the old smells from the new by the time she arrived. Unless the mech really never had been to the second crime scene until he showed up to "investigate" along with everyone else. The amount of skill, access, and training required to pull off covering his comrade's tracks though….

"Do you know which Enforcer is doing the behind the scenes work?" Prowl tries to meet Speedeagle's gaze but she keep her optics respectfully lowered.

"We have narrowed it down to a list of three suspects."

"Why are you in my home?"

"The Decepticons might attack you if they think you're on to them." Speedeagle glances up briefly but drops her gaze again just as quick.

Prowl isn't sure what he did to gain authority over the Autobot but files the information away to ponder later when she isn't sitting in front of him. For now he just accepts the fact and goes along with it "There's someone I want to check out, I trust you will be close by if I need assistance?"

She perks up, lifting her head off the couch with a grin "Of course, let's…get down!" The last bit turns into a startled screech as she throws herself at Prowl, knocking him to the floor. He lands hard on his back and feels one of his doorwings jolt into an uncomfortable angle but quickly turns down the pain receptors to the area. Before he can demand what happened Speedeagle stumbles off of him, her neck curved upward and optics clouded with pain. He notices what looks like a tranquilizer dart buried in her neck and pulls out his blaster, ducking behind a chair for cover, still ignoring his throbbing doorwing.

"Come here so I can pull that out" Prowl orders her but the tranquilizer dart is already infecting Speedeagle's systems. She stumbles away, turning her head in the direction the attack came from and shrieking. Prowl raises an optic ridge, quite surprised that the femme is still fighting the effects of the tranquilizer dart. Briefly he realizes that she'd probably woken Prowl's neighbors up. That wouldn't be too bad though, they'll call the Enforcers so Prowl can focus on his situation. There's a crash as the window and the wall around it caves into the room. The opening was made by a large mech who starts swinging at the winged femme. Speedeagle goes flying across the room as Prowl breaks his cover. His house is simply too confining for bots such as Speedeagle and himself to gain an advantage (not to mention he doesn't want to bring the building down on top of them). They need to get out as quickly as possible.

Suddenly he stumbles, feeling a sharp pain in his neck that spreads throughout his systems. His battle computer helpfully points out (as it starts to power down) there was slightly over a 40% chance that the Decepticon in front of him was not the sniper but Prowl hadn't been able to come up with a reliable plan to go by. The world goes black as he plummets towards the floor.

* * *

As some of you may recall, back in Chapter 2 Mirage mentioned a "certifiably insane flier". If you guessed that it was Speedeagle, give yourself a pat on the back. Though you may have guessed that when Prowl noticed under the "glitch" section of Speedeagle's file it mentions random fits of madness. I can safely say several such fits will occur before this story is over. On another note this is my last update that I already have written, all the other chapters have yet to be written so I'll get started on those when I have time.


	6. Let the Search Begin

Here's another chapter, I'm going to try and make them at least over a thousand words a piece from here on out though I can't promise anything. If you have time or want to review please do so. Enjoy!

* * *

"Quit your pacing" Jazz snaps at Mirage, who refuses to sit still much less sit down.

"You can feel it too can't you?" The spy snaps back, ignoring Jazz's previous statement. Jazz pauses since it would be a lie to say he didn't feel it; that sense of dread that something is very wrong with his teammate. He, Mirage, and Speedeagle had worked together for stellar cycles and tended to know when one of their team members was in deep scrap. Since he and Mirage are accounted for that can only mean something happened to Speedeagle.

_But she's supposed to be watching Prowl and she wouldn't dare disobey me, which can only mean…_ Jazz glances at Mirage who has once again returned to his pacing. He can't bring himself to reprimand the spy again though since Mirage is only concerned about his teammate. Jazz is too, honestly; Speedeagle's control is sketchy at the best of times but he'd like to believe she wouldn't hurt Prowl. Then again, Prowl is pretty observant; if he noticed Speedeagle and decided to confront her, it wouldn't end well. Throwing caution to the wind, but still mindful of the mission, Jazz opens up the private three-way comm. that belongs to his team.

:: Stormclaw, where are ya? ::

He pauses for a response and gets only faint static in return. Mirage stiffens and Jazz manages to keep his calm, deciding to try one more time.

:: Stormclaw, answer meh if ya can. ::

Still there's no response from the other end of the line, making the two mechs exchange a glance. "Let's go" Jazz gets up even as he gives the order and the two of them slip outside; Mirage jumping to the fire escape while Jazz uses his magnets to slide down the building. They transform and begin the drive to the other side of the city where Speedeagle said Prowl lives. On the way they hear the sirens of other Enforcers on some of the adjoining streets. Before getting close enough to be noticed they stop and transform, surveying the scene.

Mirage raises his optic ridges and Jazz lets out an appreciative whistle at the busted down wall and the crack in the path next to said busted wall. "Somebody got hit hard on th' way out" Jazz mutters and Mirage nods an affirmative. "We need ta find them an' quickly. Chances are we won't get any assistance from th' Enforcers if one of their own is sidin' with th' enemy."

"I'd say it's no longer in our best interest to be consultants" Mirage answers, giving Jazz a pointed look.

"About time, Ah've been itching ta ditch this disguise." Jazz mutters. "It takes you more effort ta revert than it does meh; why don't ya head back and grab all of our gear while Ah check this out?"

"Alright" Mirage nods before transforming and heading back the way they came. Jazz turns his full attention to the scene in front of him and quietly slips around to sneak into through the back. Since no one is paying any attention to him, Jazz changes his armor back to its natural state. They hadn't removed anyone from the premises yet so Jazz is hoping that Speedeagle and Prowl managed to escape. If they had though, the first thing Speedeagle would have done is drag Prowl to Jazz or she would have at least sent a comm. message if she needed help.

The Enforcers start to leave as Jazz combs through Prowl's place so only a moderate amount of hiding is necessary to stay under the radar. There are signs of a struggle including a good-size dent in the wall, one only someone of Speedeagle's size could make. He examines the dent and backs up to where he thinks the attacker would have thrown her from. The room is small enough it would have taken a large mech to do that kind of damage. Jazz tries to see if he can smell the intruder and does pick up one scent that doesn't belong to Prowl, Speedeagle, or the Enforcers.

He files the information away for later. After all, if he runs into the same scent again he'll know who it belongs to. _Best go get 'Raj so we can turn this into a proper search. If we don't find anything within two solar cycles it'll be time to call in some favors._ Jazz leaves as anonymously as he came and heads back across town. He gets to the hotel and starts to climb, only to have tremors shake building under him. _What the frag!? _Before he can finish processing that such tremors are the result of an explosion something slams into him. The hit has enough force to knock him off the building but luckily he hadn't been very far up the building to begin with so he doesn't have far to fall. Jazz jumps to his feet ready to scrap whoever just took him down when he realizes who it is. "'Raj?" The mech in question groans, rebooting his optics.

"Who wants to slag you off this time?" Mirage asks.

Jazz decides to roll with the comment as he helps his teammate into a sitting position. "Ah dunno, that list has gotten pretty long over th' stellar cycles." Jazz keeps his voice quiet as he takes a look at the damage. The spy had gotten lucky this time; some of the armor is blasted off but he isn't losing enough Energon to for it to be life-threatening. "Ah should be able ta patch ya up enough for us ta get out of here" Jazz explains as he pulls a small first-aid kit out of his subspace. Mirage sends a ping to his comm. link

:: They're not in the city anymore. ::

:: Prowl and 'Eagle? Yeah Ah guessed as much. If anyone managed ta capture those two they'd need ta remove them from Praxus. As long as they're in th' city Prowl could probably figure out a way ta escape and get back ta th' precinct. Not ta mention that th' city's air defenses won't turn on Speedeagle if she managed ta get airborne. What we need ta find out is where th' slag they were taken too. ::

Mirage doesn't answer as Jazz finishes the patch job and they both make a break for it before the Enforcers show up. Without warning Mirage turns and heads in a different direction, taking them off course from the shuttles back to Iacon. "Where ya going?" Jazz growls at him "As much as Ah hate ta admit it, we're probably gonna need ta call in some favors ta track th' others." Mirage doesn't answer, out loud anyways.

:: If you were a Decepticon who'd just gotten his hands on a great tactician who can calculate thousands of scenarios and probabilities within a breem or two as well as Speedeagle where would you take them? ::

:: Guess we get ta pay th' Decepticon scientist a visit, huh? ::

:: I was hoping not… ::

:: That makes two of us 'Raj. ::

Jazz realizes that Mirages is indeed going in the right direction. Before they'd started on their current mission there had been some Intel on Shockwave's most recent whereabouts. With some skill and a little bit of luck there's a chance they can catch up to the transport the 'Cons are using and get the others back before the Decepticon scientist got involved. However, with Mirage's injuries they won't be able to travel at a normal pace. Though the convoy probably won't be moving too fast either if they want to stay off the radar.

Jazz just hopes he and Mirage can rescue Prowl and Speedeagle before their captors decide that Speedeagle is worth more to them dead than alive. Prowl at least should be able to keep his cool and bid his time while looking for a chance to escape. Speedeagle, being half insane, an assassin, and a flier to boot, won't be able to stay calm and controlled for very long. Just the thought of one of her rampages is enough to make even Jazz shudder and hope they aren't too late.


	7. Jailbreak

_These Decepticons are even dumber than I thought._ Prowl gazes around his cell, his hands in cuffs behind his back. He might have been able to get out of them, that is if he had a clue as to how these particular cuffs were designed. To make matters worse he's fairly sure they spiked his Energon with something that's hampering his battle computer. Especially since he can't even think logically enough to try and figure out how to get out of the cuffs. That part, at least, they were smart about. Their one, big, stupid mistake? Only idiots would throw Speedeagle in the same cell as Prowl, never mind that her legs are tied together and her wings tied down.

Maybe the Decepticons think it's a good idea since Speedeagle had lost her ability to talk coherently a long time ago and acts hostile towards every Decepticon who comes into her range of sight. Prowl can only sit back and watch, internally shaking his head. She isn't a threat to him; he can see that in her body language. The only thing bothering Prowl is her optics. They'd started out a relatively normal blue when they'd both woken up the first time. Any time Speedeagle got too vicious the 'Cons stuck her with another tranquilizer and every time she'd woken her optics had gotten a shade lighter.

There isn't too much of a difference between the individual shades but this had happened enough times that her optics are now a very light blue only a few shades short of white. According to his internal chronometer they'd been captives for nearly two solar cycles now. Prowl is roused from his thoughts when their captor (the one who'd shot them) Oilslick walks in. Speedeagle snarls at him in warning and Prowl quiets her with a flick of his uninjured doorwing. She complies but her optics are trained on the mech as he walks up. "I do hope you find your accommodations befitting your rank." Prowl just ignores the jab, rising to the bait won't do him or Speedeagle any good, especially if he allows himself to get aggravated by the Decepticon.

Oilslick just keeps on talking "Surely you're not still hoping for a rescue? We're well outside the jurisdiction of your beloved precinct. Then there's those two idiots from Iacon, they were consultants, yes? They grew to be too much of a problem but they've been dealt with." Prowl does a sharp intake but Speedeagle covers the sound up with a feral, low growl. The Decepticons are known for their ways of "dealing with" problem mech. Meister and Dino though, they were Speedeagle's teammates, undercover Ops, there's simply no way that the Decepticons could offline them so easily. Prowl's battle computer wars with his spark, only another low growl from Speedeagle getting his attention once more.

"We'll be arriving at our destination in a few more solar cycles" Oilslick turns his gaze to Speedeagle, silently goading her before doing so aloud. "Your master has requested that his lost pet be returned to his care." She snarls, her optics now a hot white. Prowl senses the change. This isn't the Speedeagle who'd taken the hits for him since they arrived, who'd been watching his back for solar cycles without him knowing; this is a deranged animal. Oilslick smirks and turns to go "I was hoping you'd still be functional when we arrived, but it looks like you're a dead mech walking. Goodbye Prowl" Oilslick calls over his shoulder before sealing the door shut behind him.

Prowl glances at Speedeagle, pondering his options. Even though his battle computer isn't functioning properly, an idea presents itself to him. He manages to get to his feet and examines the structure of their cell. Near the ceiling he notices a vent and turns his attention to his cellmate "Speedeagle, jailbreak." Yes, she's half mad and probably doesn't remember where she is right now, but Prowl has a feeling she'll listen to him. His suspicion is confirmed when she grins and tucks her head, breathing fire hot enough to melt her cuffs so she can snap them apart. With her claws freed she cuts the cables binding her wings and climbs up with wall, disappearing into the ventilation shaft.

An alarm goes off and two guards run into the room (including the one who'd attacked them at Prowl's place), glaring at Prowl. "Where'd she go?"

"Does it matter? She's utterly insane and suffering from a bad case of blood lust. She'll find you long before you find her" Prowl answers. As if on cue Speedeagle drops down from the ceiling, tearing open one mech's neck cables to kill him. The mech falls forward and his helm hits the button to open the cell door. The other mech is busy shooting at Speedeagle and doesn't notice Prowl until he delivers a hard kick to the mech's legs, knocking him flat on his back. Without being asked Speedeagle pounces and finishes the second mech like she did the first.

Then her optics turn to Prowl, but he doesn't flinch at the madness lighting them, flinching would imply fear and he didn't want to think about what the mad assassin would do if she thinks he's afraid. Speedeagle walks around him and pulls off the cuffs, effectively freeing Prowl. "Thank you" he grabs a blaster and a rifle off the fallen mechs. "We need to get off this transport, but first things first, take me to Oilslick." Speedeagle gives a sharp nod and heads for the door. Prowl follows close behind, storing the rifle in his subspace while keeping the blaster in hand. Speedeagle had calmed down from her rage but now it seems she can only carry out direct orders.

That leaves Prowl to deal with any and all Decepticons they might run into but most of the mechs here seem to be drones or grunts, nothing he can't take care of. They fight their way past anybot roaming the halls and all the others that come running to see what's going on. There were probably no more than twenty crew members on this transport. Something tells him that a few escape, but now is not the time to go chasing them. Maybe if Speedeagle was more stable he could send her after them and go after Oilslick by himself, but today he just has to let it go. Besides if he gets his hands on the ship's crew rooster, he can track them down later. Eventually they make their way to the bridge. Oilslick is the only one present and is waiting for them when they arrive. "Quite a show you two put on" he grins maliciously. "Though I honestly can't believe I just lost almost all of my men to a mere Enforcer."

"There was no way for you to win." Prowl answers, motioning for Speedeagle to watch the door. She slinks off like someone who hasn't refueled in solar cycles; a possible side effect of her fits. Oilslick watches her with contempt in his optics.

"On the contrary, it seems that all three of your pets can't help you anymore, you can't possibly beat me on your own."

"Why not? As you just said I essentially took out your whole crew on my own." Prowl doesn't like the mech's tone; he's far too smug, like he has some trump card yet to be played. Oilslick hits a switch and Prowl's blaster flies out of his hand, attaching to a magnet on the other side of the room. Oilslick pulls out the tranquilizer gun that was used on them before.

"Surrender, if you know what's good for you" the Decepticon grins maliciously and Prowl decides on the spot that if he makes it out of this mess, he'll join the Autobots. The Decepticons had done enough damage to every city and bot on Cybertron, regardless of their allegiances; being neutral meant nothing to these mechs. Besides, if Oilslick had been lying earlier about Speedeagle's teammates being dead, Prowl would enjoy a second chance to work with them.

"I have a better offer: tell me which Enforcer helped you and I'll just arrest you." If they are permanently offline though, both he and Speedeagle owe it to them to finish what they started.

"No thanks" Oilslick levels the gun and fires off a shot that whistles past Prowl and knocks Speedeagle out cold on the floor instantly. A gun goes off and Oilslick jerks, staring at Prowl with wide optics.

"A very illogical decision on your part" Prowl responds, tucking the rifle back into his subspace. Oilslick hits the floor as his optics go dark and Prowl turns his back. He'd warned Oilslick there would be consequences and while the Enforcer in him didn't think that such drastic measures were necessary, his spark told him that the Decepticon needed to pay for what he'd done. Prowl does a quick round of the ship, only finding a few spare cubes and some ammo but nothing that was stolen from the armory or Energon stores. He subspaces what he can carry in case more Decepticons show up later on. The ship is on autopilot and moving at a slow pace so Prowl just collects Speedeagle off the floor of the bridge and disembarks to find a place to hunker down until they're both ready to walk back to Praxus.

* * *

I'm not very good at writing battle scenes or I would have dragged this chapter out longer. Still, here's to an epic jailbreak.


	8. What Happened to You?

Jazz growls as he examines the tracks from the transport shuttle on the ground. They hadn't missed the shuttle by more than a few joors, the closest they'd been yet, but it's getting dark and he and Mirage need to get some recharge. They'd spend most of the past two solar cycles trying to find their comrades and had hardly slept at all. Still, he and Mirage are close enough now that even a few hours spent recharging wouldn't hamper them too much. He glances over his shoulder as the spy pulls up and transforms. "I think I found a place for us to get some rest but I'm pretty sure it's occupied."

"Did ya encounter any hostiles?"

"I couldn't get close enough; these bots are on high alert, downright paranoid." Jazz nods and stands from his crouch, abandoning the tracks for now.

"Ah'll go check things out. Stay close 'case Ah need backup." Mirage nods and follows Jazz to an abandoned settlement. Well, it had only been abandoned recently because of the Decepticons and the war. He senses the two energy signatures but can't distinguish any specific spark signatures. That means a least one of the bots is running a stealth program, a slaggin' good one at that to block out two signals which is something he'd expect a Spec Ops mech to have. Jazz pulls out his blaster and creeps along, closing in on the building where the signals are coming from. Mirage sets up on the roof of a building nearby as Jazz advances on his target. He pauses at the entrance, just to collect himself before getting the jump on these mechs when someone jumps him. Jazz's training kicks in and within a few moments he has the mech on his back, with his arms pinned above his head. He hears Mirage fire a shot, knocking a blaster out of the pinned mech's hand. Then Jazz's processor catches up to his optics "Prowler?"

The Praxian pinned under him actually relaxes a little. "It's Prowl" The answer sounds half-hearted so Jazz ignores it. "Speedeagle said that the Decepticons couldn't kill you so easily but my battle computer kept saying there was no possible way you were still alive."

"There ain't a 'Con out there who can kill littl' old meh. Wait ya know about us, since when?"

"I found out shortly before the Decepticons captured us and I only know that Meister and Dino are not your real names. Though if I have to take a guess…your designation would be Jazz, correct?"

"Sorry for not introducing mahself sooner but-"

"Pardon the interruption" Jazz and Prowl glance up at Mirage, who has a rather large smirk on his face. "If you two plan on getting cozy with each other out here that's all well and good, but I for one am going to go inside so the 'Cons can't snipe me. Have fun" he walks off, waving goodbye. Jazz and Prowl exchange a glance, finally realizing what the spy was getting at.

"Ah'm gonna get ya for that comment 'Raj" Jazz says, quickly jumping to his feet and offering Prowl a hand.

He grabs Jazz's hand and gets to his feet. "No need" Prowl mutters to Jazz as they follow Mirage.

"Why not?" Jazz gives Prowl a curious look just as Mirage steps into the building and gets slammed into by a silver missile. Speedeagle pins her teammate to the floor, snarling until she realizes who it is. The look on Mirage's face as Jazz and Prowl get inside nearly drops Jazz on the floor from laughing so hard.

"Get off of him Speedeagle" Prowl chastises her. Speedeagle hops off obediently, leaving a stunned Mirage to stare after her, but that makes Jazz laugh even harder. Eventually the laughter subsides and he stands up straight, leaning against the wall. Speedeagle has taken her one of her favorite places to perch on a beam above their heads. Mirage sits on the floor and leans against the wall next to Jazz, grimacing. Chances are being tackled jarred his wounds, though the patch job seems to be holding. Jazz just takes the time to observe his team and the gorgeous Praxian on the other side of the room. He catalogs the damage to all three of his comrades; cuts, scrapes, missing armor, dents, and charred plates from blaster fire.

"What's wrong with your doorwing?" Jazz inquires as he notices one of Prowl's said doorwings is angled differently than the other.

Prowl grimaces "It's been dislocated for some time now."

Jazz glares accusingly at the femme lounging above their heads "Why didn't ya fix that?" She whines apologetically and Jazz notices all the tell tale signs of a recent fit of madness; darker than usual optics, lack of energy, lack of speech. He frowns before shaking his head, she wouldn't have thought about it. "Just fix it, now" Speedeagle nods and jumps down besides Prowl. He eyes Speedeagle warily but doesn't move as she walks around to his back. Jazz decides to try and help by distracting Prowl.

"So how did you two escape? Ah mean, ya weren't dealing with any of th' 'Con's head honchos but Ah'd still like ta hear th' details." Prowl nods and tells of how they'd woken up in a cell after capture. The 'Cons had been less than friendly but Speedeagle did her best to keep the heat off of Prowl, which is why superficial damages cover her whole frame. The repeated use of sedatives had eventually driven her mad though and Prowl used what authority over her he had to direct a jailbreak. He then continues to explain how he'd done most of the fighting as they made their way to the bridge and the death of Oilslick.

Just as Prowl finishes his story, Jazz watches Speedeagle yank Prowl's doorwing back into place. The Praxian bites his lip but nods at Speedeagle as she steps away "That's much better, thank you." Jazz studies Prowl for a little bit, then opens up his team's comm.

:: Ya paying attention you two? ::

Mirage is the first to answer, seeming very sarcastic.

:: Yes, I'm paying attention. What's so secret you can't say in front of Prowl? ::

:: Let…him talk…Mirage ::

Jazz smiles, at least Speedeagle's systems are slowly but surely powering back up to normal capacity. His smile fades when he poses his question to his fellow team members, though. Both of them frown at him at first, demanding he explain why he'd even given the idea a thought. So Jazz proceeds to point out everything that makes his decision a sound one. Mirage and Speedeagle glance at each other and Jazz watches them sign back and forth to each other. He'd never bothered to learn anything but attack commands and names in sign so he can't understand the conversation. They turn their attention back to him after a few moments and Mirage addresses Jazz.

:: Very well Jazz, we never really opposed the idea in the first place, you just surprised us. ::

:: So you two are cool with it? ::

:: That's your call. If you trust Prowl enough we won't object, he's proved his worth already. ::

Smiling once more, Jazz turns his attention back to Prowl. It seems he knew a conversation went on without his knowledge, but Prowl had decided not to comment. Jazz looks him dead in the optic, reassured that his decision is indeed a sound one "I've got a question for you Prowl…"

* * *

Don't shoot! *hides* I swear everything will make sense once I update again. Review?


	9. Questions and Answers

Prowl frowns for a moment; what kind of question could Jazz deem so important? His battle computer quickly comes up with several different scenarios ranging from very possible to very odd. With no more pause than that he nods, signaling for Jazz to continue. "First things, Ah'd like ta extend a formal invitation ta join th' Autobot ranks. Normally Ah'd wait until we have this whole fiasco sorted out an' let one of th' higher ups do it. However, it needs ta be done now and Ah'm th' highest ranking person here."

Prowl blinks at Jazz; that had been the most likely scenario he had come up with. His recent capture and personal experience with dealing with the Decepticons left no doubt in his processor which faction he preferred. "I would be honored to join the Autobot cause" Prowl answers. Jazz grins at him while Mirage smiles and Speedeagle trills in approval from above their heads. Prowl offers the barest smile in return but notices Jazz still seems rather nervous, which is out of character for the Spec Ops mech. "Do you have something else to say?"

Jazz grins sheepishly and hesitates for a little bit before answering Prowl. "We Spec Ops don't trust easily or often outside of our own division. Ya found out we were observing ya and from what 'Eagle tells me ya weren't very upset or angry with her."

"I didn't exactly have time to at the moment and when I finally had time I realized that it wasn't worth getting worked up over. Your concern was understandable and without Speedeagle's help I wouldn't have been able to escape the Decepticons." Prowl's battle computer can't track Jazz's line of thought well enough to predict an outcome, but coming from Jazz he had a feeling that this is normal.

"She told us why ya really killed Oilslick, not just 'cause he woulda grabbed you two but not for revenge or in cold blood either" Jazz eyes Prowl. Prowl glances up at Speedeagle, trying to fathom how she'd found out when he'd never spoken on the matter and she'd been unconscious when it actually happened. "It's in her programming" Jazz answers, probably noticing Prowl's confusion. "No matter how dumb she is or acts, Speedeagle understand bots an' how they tick especially those such as myself, 'Raj, and you."

"Why-"

"Ah…aw slag it Ah'll just do this" Jazz sends him a data burst that contains only a simple frequency code. It's a hyper encrypted line that most scanners would never be able to pick up and appears to have several strings of programming attached. Prowl tries to access it and it sends out three comm. messages that state 'requesting permission'. Before Prowl can fathom what kind of permission he's trying to get (when Jazz had given him access to the frequency already) he gets three confirmations and his comm. link flares to life.

:: Welcome ta our private conversation line, Prowler. ::

:: A permanent three-way comm. line? Is that wise for members of Spec Ops? ::

:: It is hyper encrypted and hard to detect for a reason, but it can be disrupted like any other comm. line. You will have to forgive Speedeagle if she doesn't talk very much at the moment since her systems are still powering up. As Jazz stated earlier, we Spec Ops agents don't trust very many people. We really hardly trust our own commander for anything outside the official capacity. However, we trust you and after the Decepticons captured you well…Jazz went a little crazy. ::

:: Mirage! ::

:: What? I am merely stating the truth as I see it. The last time anyone saw you that wound up was when the Decepticons… ::

:: Alright that is one incident Ah'd really rather not have bandied about! ::

:: You're the one who invited Prowl onto the comm. line. Surely you of all mech knew how tempting it would be to tell him some of our more...interesting experiences. Besides, if I remember correctly your argument was that Prowl here is one of very few bots who wouldn't go speaking about past missions or classified information. Not that we could tell him everything anyway... ::

:: We can't even think about it 'til we get back an' talk ta our boss, you know that as well as Ah do! ::

:: Yes, I am Quite looking forward to the expression on his face when he hears about this mission. Too bad there won't be enough time to set up a betting pool. ::

:: Why you… ::

:: WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP! ::

Speedeagle drowns them both out by screeching as well as screaming over the comm. link. Prowl flinches at the both the volume and the high pitch. He wonders if she can go high enough to temporarily short out a mech's audios or leave them ringing for a short period of time and his battle computer points out that she probably could if she wanted too. Jazz and Mirage very well ignore her in favor of glaring at each other.

Prowl watches as Speedeagle hauls herself to her feet and pounces on the two mechs, sending all three of them rolling across the floor. Prowl just stands there and watches dumbstruck (he hadn't been expecting that course of action) wondering what he'd just gotten himself into as insults pass both from word of mouth and through the comm. link. They all seem half-hearted because none of them seem to be affected by the insults. None of it would make sense if he was only listening to half the conversation. Eventually Prowl decides that enough is enough because these three can do a lot of damage if this is allowed to continue or escalates.

:: All three of you, cease these antics this instant! ::

Confusion morphs into surprise on Prowl's part as the three of them jump away from each other. None of them are sporting any new wounds other than a few minuscule dents that will fix themselves quickly. His doorwings pull up into sharp V as he glares at them "You three are acting like sparklings." Speedeagle lowers her head until her beak touches the floor, at least having the decency to act ashamed. Mirage opens his mouth to say something but Speedeagle cuts him off with a snarl so he refrains from saying anything. Jazz on the other hand just grins at Prowl and no amount of glaring does anything to stop him.

Prowl sighs "fine, if you're going to act like sparklings I will treat you like sparklings. Each of you pick a corner and get some recharge, we have a long way back to Praxus in the morning."

Jazz snorts "ya did not just order us ta th' corner."

"I believe I just did."

"Fine, Ah'll go quietly if you recharge too."

"Someone needs to watch our flank."

"Then let one of us do it! Our sensors and scanners are meant for this kind of work an' yours aren't."

"Given your immature behavior just now I think the three of you are suffering from exhaustion and require rest before you can even think about taking an all-night watch, especially you and Mirage."

"Two solar cycles with minimal recharge is hardly new for us, we've both gone longer than this doing that in enemy territory no less, at least here we're on Neutral ground!" The quarrel escalates from there and Prowl dimly notes that verbally sparring with Jazz is its own kind of amusement, too bad he wants to win this argument or he could enjoy it more.

* * *

Alright I'll admit this didn't come out quite like I wanted it too but I couldn't think of any other way to put it. Still I'm hoping most people realize the double purpose of allowing Prowl access to their permanent comm. link (they can turn it on and off like any other comm. link but if turned on everyone connected can listen in if they want). One of course being because all three of the Ops agents are a little on the psychotic side (some more than others) and can't always think straight. However, it will also allow Prowl to call for backup if he wants or needs it (Jazz has a protective streak after all). Some feedback would be much appreciated.


	10. Little Talks

Speedeagle watches the exchange. Her systems are not functioning properly because of the recent drain to them. Still, even she knows how wrong this is; they are all tired, extremely so. This spat is completely un-necessary especially given who the arguing individuals are. So it seems that this must be dealt with before all else and Mirage doesn't seem to be in a position to help, in fact he seems to be enjoying the show. Speedeagle's innate knowledge of her comrades says that neither Jazz nor Prowl will simply give up on the current argument. _Great, just great, they'll be here all night._

She accesses the team comm. link and digs through the connection, avoiding detection as she tries to gain access to a particular strand of coding that's based off of Jazz's end. For whatever reason, he doesn't notice until she turns the programming on them (perhaps because all of Jazz's focus is on Prowl). This prompts them all, Mirage included, to start powering down for recharge. Mirage accepts the change with little complaint, opting to get settled before he just collapses on the spot. Jazz resists at first, but once he realizes who's directing the program he has hooked up to the comm. decides to follow Mirage's lead. After all, they at least trust Speedeagle to watch their backs while they get some much-needed recharge.

The programming itself is one way Jazz and Mirage can stop one of Speedeagle fits if they want by making her power down to recharge. It is a difficult coding to fight when the recipient isn't thinking straight but surprise is still an important factor in catching the victim off guard. Speedeagle had been on the receiving end enough to know exactly how it works. For some bots all they ever do is think straight, such as the only one still resisting. Speedeagle turns her gaze on Prowl who continues to fight the protocol. She cocks her head to one side as she regards him.

:: Sleep Prowl…I will keep guard. ::

"Your systems are not functioning properly and you can barely speak over a comm. line let alone aloud. There is-"

:: My sensors…recover quickly. You will be safe. I trust you, now…trust me and sleep. ::

Prowl visibly pauses while he considers his options but he finally seems to agree and gives Speedeagle a short nod. "Very well, I trust you, so I'll recharge. I still don't quite understand why you three included me on your comm. line." Speedeagle exvents and settles down by the door, expanding her sensors to detect intruders. Once that's done she slowly focuses her processor on clear speech.

:: Jazz trusts you. Mirage trusts you. We Ops often fight for our lives…sometimes our teammates cannot pick up the pieces. ::

"I assume you mean what's left of your sanity but how does that apply to giving me access to this comm. line. There are multiple strands of programs and protocols attached to this that are illegal for anybot besides Medics to have. How did all of you get your hands on them? Never mind, that will surely give me a processor ache."

Speedeagle makes an exasperated sound as best she can with her vocals not functioning properly.

:: They are useful sometimes. Like just a few moments ago. Usually I am the one receiving, not giving. I can't tell you exactly why we gave you access. That is something only Jazz can do. You've been awake long enough, please recharge. ::

Prowl gives into his recharge protocols and Speedeagle watches him a few moments more to be sure he falls into recharge. Her processor is functioning a bit better now; the ease of talking on the comm. line is proof of that. The sensors in her wings are almost back up to their normal operating levels and her optics and sense of smell are also coming back. Most everything will be fine by the morning when they set off for Praxus.

Speedeagle gets to her feet and stretches. Her processor wanders as it often does and she wonders how Drift will react to Prowl. As Jazz told Prowl, she understands people; an assassin is more effective the more they understand their target. Drift won't be pleased with this mission at all, for many reasons; Jazz getting emotionally involved, letting his attraction affect the team's performance, Speedeagle being foolish enough to let herself get captured. She can almost hear the lecture Drift will surely give them. Drift will let Prowl go to Tactical alright, he is a mech of his word after all but he might also make sure Prowl is shipped off elsewhere so he won't be a distraction.

That wouldn't bode well for the team; Jazz wouldn't be able to focus at all and that would in turn affect Speedeagle and Mirage. Yes, they can operate individually but they rely on each other for morale support and strength more than is common for anyone in their division. Speedeagle lets out a sub-vocal growl that almost wakes the others before she manages to control herself enough to stop. She lays back down and decides on the spot that Head of Spec Ops or not Drift is not going to lay a finger on Prowl or send him away for that matter.

It is, after all, far too easy to picture how out of sorts Speedeagle herself would be if Drift ever broke up their three, no four, man team. She casts a quick glance around the room to make sure everyone is still present and accounted for, though her sensors hadn't picked up any movement from anyone at all. Her gaze lingers on Mirage and she lets a slight sigh before resting her head on her forelegs. Just let Drift try and break the four of them up; Jazz needs someone to keep him in line, Prowl would soon become a Decepticon target for taking out the transport, and if Drift dared to move Mirage well…that would be the end of her sanity all right. A slight smile forms on her face as she imagines tearing the Head of Ops to shreds if that ever happened.

* * *

A quick glimpse into the mind of our resident insane assassin. Obviously she isn't above Decepticon methods of dealing with stuff she doesn't like, despite the fact of how outclassed she'd be and how much trouble she'd be in. She doesn't usually think that far ahead since she's so...well, crazy. Thoughts?


	11. Out With the Traitor

It had taken them a little under two solar cycles to return to Prowl's home city of Praxus. He wasn't exactly sure how Jazz managed to get them in without using any checkpoints or activating any alarms. At first he'd been more than a little angry with saboteur before Jazz pointed out that Meister and Dino have been pronounced dead and he and Mirage aren't supposed to be anywhere near Praxus. Since Prowl couldn't come up with a decent argument to that he agreed that it was necessary, just this once.

That leaves them hiding out not too terribly far from the Praxus precinct. Prowl glances at the three Ops members lounging around the room as if nothing is wrong. They all seem very at ease, more so than they should be, so Prowl turns his optics back to the datapad in his hand and the list on it. He crosses off one of the three names of the mechs Jazz thought was responsible. Prowl agreed with the list and as he gazes at the last two names Prowl realizes with a sinking feeling in his spark that there's no way one of them would have help Oilslick. Slowly, he deletes that name which leaves only one mech who could have possibly been Oilslick's accomplice.

Barricade.

How had he not noticed that his partner was up to something? Logically it made sense, Barricade would have censored what evidence Prowl managed to get his hands on. Yet how had Barricade kept Prowl from guessing his involvement? Better yet, how had none of the Ops agents in the room realized something was off, especially if Speedeagle had been tailing Prowl? That's probably why a bomb had been planted at their temporary residence; Barricade would have known how close the "consultants" were to finding him out. Prowl shakes his head, he would need to help arrest Barricade. His battle computer starts coming up with several battle plans, one after another either being rejected or set aside for further reviewing.

A sympathetic whine in his audio makes Prowl glance over his should at Speedeagle perched on a ledge just above his head. He gives her a quick scratch under the beak, mindful of Mirage's watchful gaze from across the room, before subspacing the datapad. "I have a plan" Prowl turns to Jazz.

The saboteur turns and regards Prowl. "Alright, what supplies do ya need an' what backup?"

A barely there, devious smile forms on Prowl's face and Jazz grins back at the sight. "I need to borrow Speedeagle for a little while and if you two could stay close and out of sight I would appreciate it."

"Wait, are we gonna break into th' Precinct?"

"No, you are. Speedeagle and I will be using the front door."

* * *

There had been a big commotion when Prowl walked into the precinct with Speedeagle following close at his heels. It had taken a few minutes to get everyone on shift, five, maybe six mechs altogether (everyone else being out on patrol) to calm down and convince them all to come to the conference room. Most of them were throwing a multitude of questions at Prowl, chief among those being what had happened to him. None of them had even noticed Speedeagle until Prowl calmly asked her to quiet the other mechs in the room with a well pitched screech.

He nods at her as she jumps back down off the conference table. That was one of the main reasons Prowl had asked her to come with him; even he would have a hard time getting this crowd to be quiet. The others stare after her before turning their attention to Prowl. His boss apparently decides to ask first "who might this be?"

"A good friend of the consultants from Iacon, when she learned of the accident she came here to investigate what happened to her comrades." Every bit of that is the truth, so Prowl's bluff can't be called on that. He lets his gaze sweep the room before continuing "That night four and a half solar cycles ago I was captured by a Decepticon by the name of Oilslick. He was in the process of retreating and moving me to an undisclosed location when my comrade here showed up. She helped me escape and informed me of the real reason her compatriots were sent in; apparently the Autobots have an Intel link and realized it was connected to the rash of thefts recently here in Praxus."

"How?" Barricade himself asks and Prowl gives him a deadpan look.

"Oilslick was the one who committed those thefts and had assistance from someone here in the Precinct." As expected, every single bot in the room starts yelling and shouting. Prowl glances down at Speedeagle and nods. She grins and lets out a shriek that makes everyone cover their audios except for Prowl, who had turned down the sensitivity of his own audios. He pauses long enough to let the others compose themselves. "I know this is extremely hard to believe. I didn't believe it at first either, but then I realized it was simply the only logical explanation for all the thefts as well as the recent deaths around the city. With the help of our consultants before their apparent demise we had a small list of suspects. On my way back to Praxus I managed to find out exactly who was helping the Decepticon agent Oilslick." Prowl pauses for a moment, knowing that the shear unlikelihood of his accusation would confuse his fellow Enforcers, but it has to be done.

A lot of things happened at once; a shot rings out, Prowl gets knocked to the ground from someone who hadn't been there before, Barricade sprints out of the room amid the confusion, and Speedeagle tears off after him. The other officers also take off after Barricade, only pausing long enough to make sure Prowl is alright. He quickly levers himself into a sitting position, trying to figure out what had knocked him down. A small spatter of Energon gets his attention and he follows the trail with his optics. Eventually Prowl notices Jazz just a few paces away, bleeding from his shoulder.

"Not th' best plan in th' world there, Prowler" Jazz mutters, his visor dark.

"I was not expecting getting shot at that moment." Prowl can't decide whether to reprimand Jazz for being so reckless or be grateful he's mostly alright. The shot appears to have missed any main fuel lines, so it could easily be worse. He stands and moves closer, careful not to make any sudden movements. Regardless of the fact that the saboteur knows Prowl is there, he could still go on the offensive if startled.

Jazz snorts "Barricade probably knew that" Jazz onlines his visor and glances up at Prowl.

"Shall we go see if we can still help catch our target?" Prowl offers a hand and Jazz grabs it with his uninjured side before allowing himself to get pulled up.

"Lead th' way, Prowler."

"It's Prowl, Jazz." They step out and start to head outside when Jazz stops in his tracks, tilting his helm to one side. He turns and heads deeper into the precinct while Prowl follows close behind trying to figure out what Jazz is up to. They eventually reach the storage room for some of the older records and Prowl finally hears it to, a slight beep every few seconds. He and Jazz move a few crates and find themselves staring at any Enforcers' worst nightmare. Prowl frowns, cursing is not in his nature but this…

Apparently Jazz has the same thought. "Well slag…th' fragger likes these things more than meh!"

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing?"

"Ya can ask 'Raj and 'Eagle, there ain't a mission Ah love more than blowing somethin' up."


	12. In With the Tactician

Mirage and a couple Enforcers chase Barricade across the city with Speedeagle keeping up well above their heads; most of the Enforcers had fallen too far behind a while ago. There's no possible way for Barricade to outrun all of them so Mirage is mainly waiting for them to somehow corner the mech. As luck would have it, as he rounds the next bend Mirage watches Barricade stop and transform. The Decepticon is staring in at an hastily constructed road blockade made of stuff one would find on the side of a street; a few stands and kiosks. Mirage and the Enforcers transform as well and the Enforcers look just as confused as Barricade does. Sensing foul play, Mirage turns on his comm. link.

:: Speedeagle did you do this? ::

:: …I'm not going to apologize. ::

:: Of course not…I'll have to report this to Drift you know. ::

:: That's not until we get back. ::

:: Just…get down here and don't destroy anything else. ::

Mirage activates his blasters and trains them at Barricade's head. The Enforcers hesitate a little, but they at least have their weapons out so Mirage is hopeful that they're on his side; They are Enforcers and Barricade Had shot Prowl and fled capture, or at least, that's what Speedeagle reported when they started the chase. Speedeagle lands on top of a nearby building and perches at the edge, ready to pounce on the Barricade. He glances between the two of them before out-and-out laughing. "Not a step closer Autobots or you'll force my hand." Mirage frowns and glances at Speedeagle, whose expression mirrors his own: confused and worried. A sense of dread swamps him and Mirage has a hard time keeping his face stoic.

"What are you talking about?" Mirage decides to simply ask, because he senses that slag is about to hit the rotary blades.

Barricade pulls a small device out of his subspace but the angle is bad so Mirage can't tell exactly what it is. Up on the roof, Speedeagle snarls her optics blazing in what Mirage recognizes as cold fury.

:: What does he have, Speedeagle? ::

:: Detonator. ::

Mirage pauses for a moment. Barricade hadn't expected to be stopped here so it must be for a bomb somewhere else in the city. Without knowing where the bomb is a successful evacuation is impossible. With that in mind, Mirage focuses his attention back to the Decepticon "Let's be rational now Barricade, put the detonator down and we can talk."

"Surrender to an Autobot, not in a million stellar cycles, fragger!" Barricade snarls at Mirage and Mirage watches Speedeagle shift her stance, snarling in response. "Shockwave set me and Oilslick up to grab his runaway pet and the last modification he needed to turn that glitch into the ultimate assassin!" Barricade jerks his head in Speedeagle's direction. "So do yourself a favor, surrender your friend up there and let me leave with her. If you do that I might not blow up nine square blocks of the city."

_Slag, I need to buy some time for us to formulate a plan to at least get that detonator away from him._ Mirage casts a glance at Speedeagle, hoping she's at least got her insanity on some sort of leash, before looking back at Barricade. "I thought Shockwave had given up on her and called her a failed experiment. Why is he trying to catch her now?"

"She's insane sure, but Shockwave was working on a solution to counter that insanity before you slaggers grabbed her out from under our noses: a battle computer." He grins "If she had one of those she would be the perfect weapon to turn on the Autobots."

"That's why you wanted Prowl!" Speedeagle snarls, surprising even Mirage with her statement. He had been certain she wouldn't be able to talk for a few more solar cycles yet.

"I'm surprised you managed to figure that out; you aren't exactly the brightest." Barricade spares Speedeagle a quick glance, but it isn't enough time for Mirage to make a move. "Last chance Autobots, surrender!"

Mirage hesitates, but Speedeagle doesn't "Fine." Now fearing for the outcome of this particular standoff, he turns on his comm. link again.

:: NO! Shockwave nearly destroyed your sanity last time, if you go again- ::

:: I don't care; he's threatening Jazz, he's threatening Prowl, and he's threatening YOU. I cannot allow him to go through with this because if you guys die I WILL go insane and there won't be a 'Bot in the world who can calm me down. Besides, I know you; you'll come get me before Shockwave manages to completely destroy my sanity and if for some reason you can't well...I think between you and the rest of our team you can help me get it back. ::

Mirage is very tempted to stare at Speedeagle in shock; never mind that the statement is inferences based on the personalities of her teammates (the one thing she could be considered an expert in) it is perhaps the most intelligent thing she'd ever uttered aloud . She gazes at him for a moment before climbing down the side of the building. Barricade grins deviously "At least one of you has some common sense, too bad it's the crazy one and not you eh?" He glances at Mirage, a very smug expression on his face. Speedeagle stops no more than an arm's length away from Barricade, her posture stiff but not quite hostile, more like reluctant. "No matter, now for the coup de grace..." Before anyone can react Barricade hits the detonator.

Nothing happens.

A familiar laugh momentarily draws Mirage's gaze up to a balcony on the building to his left. Jazz grins at the Decepticon "Man that bomb was amateur level; Ah can make an' defuse those in recharge. Not ta mention it was poorly hidden an' noisy; were ya purposefully trying to fail?" While Jazz continues to ramble on about how poorly the bomb had been planned (the mech hated to see explosives wasted) Mirage turns his attention back to Barricade, wondering what Jazz has in mind. Almost absentmindedly Mirage notes that Prowl isn't around, is that part of the plan?

Barricade snarls and lunges, grabbing Speedeagle by the neck. She shrieks and flails but gets quiet as Barricade no doubt increases the pressure of his grip, denting plating. Mirage stops himself from firing lest Barricade decides to use the femme as a shield. "You will let me leave or I blast her head off" the Decepticon growls. Mirage takes a step back and Jazz vaults down to street level, but it doesn't distract the Decepticon. That's when Mirage notices Prowl; the mech is creeping up behind Barricade. If Prowl can remain undetected he may be able to save Speedeagle and still arrest Barricade, hence why Jazz is trying to distract Barricade.

Unfortunately with that last failed attempt, Barricade comes to a decision "I'll take my leave now" Mirage watches as Prowl locks up and Barricade turns around. Suddenly the the two Praxians are face-to-face. Barely a nanoclick passes before Barricade uses Speedeagle like a club to knock Prowl away and hurls the femme after him. Mirage and Jazz start blasting the Decepticon as he transforms and bashes right through the blockade, tearing off down the street.

Mirage moves to chase him but gets grabbed by Jazz. "It won't do any good mech; we have ta let him go this time." A very low growl rumbles through Mirages systems as he glares at Jazz and he turns on a private comm. with the saboteur.

:: Why in the name of Pitt should we let him go!? ::

:: Because we don't know Praxus as well as he does. Not ta mention our expert on th' city an' our aerial support are in a heap on th' other side of th' street. ::

:: The Enforcers- ::

:: Are too busy trying ta minimize th' damage Barricade can do on his way out an' makin' adjustments in their security so he can't have any more access. Trust meh, Ah want ta hunt him down just as badly as you, but just this once we have ta let it go. 'Sides, it would seem that th' Enforcers are gettin' more than they bargained for. ::

At Mirage's confused look Jazz merely points and lets the spy look for himself. Mirage merely smirks at the sight; Speedeagle had recovered from being thrown quickly and is now crouching over Prowl, snarling at the two very confused Enforcers who had stupidly gotten way too close. Mirage couldn't really blame them though; they were out of doorwing range but since they had no prior experience they didn't realize they were still in range of Speedeagle's wings. "Perhaps we should go rescue them" Mirage muses. Jazz just grins in agreement and they head over.

* * *

It had taken Mirage longer than he anticipated to get Speedeagle to stop snarling at the Enforcers and Mirage himself, though she'd readily enough stepped aside to let Jazz check on Prowl. It had confused the Enforcers on hand, especially after they realized that she wasn't bonded to anyone and hadn't even met Prowl until two weeks beforehand. When she'd let Jazz past they'd become even more confused which amused Mirage to no end especially when Mirage noticed that while Jazz seemed to be paying attention to his surroundings, he wasn't. Prowl himself was mostly unharmed, merely suffering from a good whack to the helm that had temporarily sent him offline. They had returned to the precinct to report what had been going on and so Prowl could officially resign to leave with the Ops team for Iacon. When no one was paying much attention Prowl had apparently sent Speedeagle to clear out his residence and she hadn't shown back up until they were at the shuttle station.

A while later finds them in their own compartment almost back to Iacon. Speedeagle had taken a spot on the floor by Mirage's seat, allowing him to scratch the top of her head if he dropped his arm down from the armrest. She's recharging now but given she had nearly suffered another relapse into madness earlier the touch helped keep her calm. Prowl is sitting across from Mirage, reading over a datapad that contained an abbreviated copy of rules and regulations. The abbreviated part meant it left out any rules that did not pertain to or had no power over Ops agents. Prowl had frowned at that but Mirage had stated, truthfully, it was the only copy they had between them. Jazz had taken a spot as far from the three of them as possible and though he was lounging, he posture was still a little stiff. Recognizing one of Jazz's rare "down" moods Mirage decides to ask after him.

:: Is there a problem? ::

:: Drift is going ta throw us in th' brig for this one. ::

:: He never had before. ::

:: Mirage, you were compromised, Speedeagle was compromised, Pitt Ah was compromised! ::

:: All the more reason for us to convince Drift that throwing us in the brig is a bad idea. After all, we now know that Shockwave is after Speedeagle and Prowl and there is no one more qualified than you and I to keep an eye on them. ::

:: Right, well we're here. ::

Mirage lightly taps on Speedeagle's helm and stands up. Prowl subspaces the datapad and gets to his feet. Speedeagle finally wakes up enough to follow when they're halfway out and Mirage knows that Jazz takes the back to allow both the winged bots time to adjust to the bustle. Mirage glances over his shoulder to speak but Jazz beats him to the punch.

"Welcome ta Iacon, Prowl."

* * *

_Well, school is gonna catch up with me really quick and I need to get caught on a few other things (gotta keep my promises after all) so I've decided that from now on I'll attempt to post either every or every other Monday. If I can't I won't make any excuses, I'll just ask you to be patient a little longer. Feedback?_


	13. That Could Have Gone Better

It's finally Monday! I was kicking myself all week because I basically finished this chapter Tuesday but I told myself I have to stick to my new routine. It was eating at me though. Anyway, I'm going to be using the comm. a lot more so I need someway to distinguish people from each other. The only problem is trying to distinguish four different people with limited ways of adjusting the text. So I've decided to try my hand at Jazz's accent (I'll go back to previous chapters and make appropriate modifications) since that will make it easier to distinguish him from the others. For the rest of the team it'll go something like this:

_Speedeagle_

Mirage

Prowl

I welcome feedback. As always, enjoy!

* * *

Iacon is bustling with activity as both civilians, refugees, and some Autobots (identifiable by their brands) move about. The amount of sensory information that Prowl's doorwings are picking up is enough to make even him feel like he's in a little over his head; even the busiest hubs of Praxus aren't quite this bad. Since Jazz is bringing up the rear though Prowl can focus less on getting jumped without warning and more on where he's going. Mirage and Speedeagle lead the way, and any time someone strays too close she just glares at them until they make themselves scarce. Prowl glances at Speedeagle and turns on the comm.

:: I presume you are used to this? ::

:: _It took a while to adjust and it can be overwhelming when you're not expecting it. Try spending all your time either cooped up in a lab or a shuttle before getting thrown into this chaos. I nearly lost it the first time I went for a joy flight around here it was so bad_. ::

:: Yes, your flight patterns are quite erratic when you're barely hanging on to sanity. ::

:: Aw come on 'Raj even ya have ta admit it was pretty fun tryin' ta talk Red Alert out of shootin' 'Eagle out of th' sky. ::

:: Sort of, if you consider having a Red Alert on the fritz yelling at you Fun. ::

:: May I ask who Red Alert is? ::

:: _Our security director who's as paranoid as I am insane when I'm having a fit_. ::

:: That bad? ::

:: He has more cameras around the base than is healthy. We have a hard time convincing him not to install any in the ventilation system. ::

:: Ya know Prime agrees it's necessary an' it has kept th' 'Cons out. ::

:: Even so, I'd rather not be considered a Decepticon because I sneak out to do my job. ::

Prowl raises on optic ridge at that, surely even a Security Director could understand the need for a spy to move about undetected when they leave base? Then again, being as paranoid as Speedeagle is insane is certainly saying something. By this point they're getting close to the Autobot Headquarters and there's a little less foot traffic. The guards wave them past without asking after Prowl, but he figures that anyone who shows up in the company of three Spec Ops agents not in stasis cuffs isn't worth asking after. Either that, they were expecting him (the most likely explanation), or it has something to do with Speedeagle and Jazz doing something or other where Prowl couldn't see it.

"Hey guys, you're back!" A yellow mech runs up after they enter the base proper.

"Hey 'Bee" Jazz greets the mech "Ya know where Drift is?"

"A meeting, but he sent me to tell you to go wait in his office, he'll come when he's out."

"Thanks mech" Jazz says and takes the lead, leaving Prowl to follow with Mirage and Speedeagle bringing up the rear. They wander through the halls and eventually stop in front of a door. Jazz frowns at the lock "He switched th' codes again."

"We probably shouldn't hack it this time" Mirage muses.

Prowl frowns "Are you seriously considering breaking into an office?"

"'Eagle, up top" Jazz tilts his head a little. Prowl watches as Speedeagle jumps up to the rafters and disappears. Jazz glances at Prowl and grins "We do this all th' time. Drift likes ta challenge us." A crash comes from inside the room and a few moments later the door opens up revealing a rather pleased looking Speedeagle. They all pile into the room and Prowl pauses when he notices a few games sitting on a shelf in the corner. Jazz catches his gaze and grins "Wanna play?"

"That probably is not wise."

"Why not? Ain't a bot that uses it." Jazz lopes over, picks a game, and starts to set it up. Prowl hesitates a moment before wandering over and helping Jazz set the game up when he places the pieces in the wrong spots before they both settle down to play.

* * *

Drift heads back to his office after a longer than usual security meeting. Halfway through Red Alert had gotten wind of the Tactician that Drift had asked to be brought in and started ranting about security clearance, Decepticons spies, and blah blah blah. Drift had tuned the mech out very quickly and waited until the meeting was over. Now at least, he could look forward to what would hopefully be a good report about another mission pulled off near flawlessly. He keys in his code and steps into his office, prepared to start reprimanding them for stuff they shouldn't be doing, but stops himself. Speedeagle is casually sprawled out on the floor by the visitor chair that Mirage is occupying while Jazz and, Drift guesses, Prowl are playing one of his strategy games.

"Ah swear mech, ya gotta be cheatin'" Jazz huffs.

"I can assure you that my battle computer is off, Jazz. Besides, it would seem we're done for now." The Praxian nods in Drifts direction. Satisfied that everyone is actually being civil for once (instead of hiding in the rafters, being invisible, or getting into stuff they aren't supposed to) Drift walks over and takes a seat behind his desk. Jazz pulls another chair over while Prowl takes the one next to Mirage.

Drift's optics narrow as he takes in his team; clearly they hadn't been to the med bay since they arrived, Ratchet will not be pleased. "I trust that the Decepticon spy has been dealt with?" Drift asks. No one says a word for several moments and Drift notices the typical signs that signal they're talking on their comm. link. That doesn't bother him too much since they tend to do that all the time. However, it seems that the Praxian is also in on their conversation because his eyes are dimmed just a little and it doesn't appear to be conscious. Odd, since they use a private comm. line that even Drift didn't find out about until they'd been using it for stellar cycles already.

He waits patiently for an answer while trying to puzzle out this new bit of information about his team. "Th' mech, Barricade, got away" Jazz grits out after a few moments. "He had a bomb planted in th' Praxus precinct an' took off after attemptin' ta shoot Prowl when we tried ta bust 'im. Prowl an' meh stayed behind an' deactivated th' bomb."

Mirage takes over, stiffly "Speedeagle and I chased him across the city with a couple of the Enforcers in tow. The mech knew the city well, but with optics in the sky we were able to keep up. We cut him off at a road block and that's when Barricade pulled out the detonator. He threatened to blow up nine square blocks of the city if we didn't hand Speedeagle over immediately."

Drift raises an optic ridge "Why?"

To his surprise, Prowl is the one who answers. "Five solar cycles beforehand, the Decepticons showed up at my home and captured myself and Speedeagle. We were being shipped to a" he shoots a glance at Speedeagle "lab so that some previous plan could be completed. Though she was not sane at the time, it was only thanks to Speedeagle that we managed to escape and meet up with Jazz and Mirage just joors later."

"I only busted us out of the cell, you took out the 'Cons" Speedeagle huffs.

Drift decides to cut them off there "Why did you not arrest the Decepticon agent before going to retrieve Prowl and Speedeagle? Madness aside" that earns him a growl "They could have waited a while more and it sounds like they didn't even need to be rescued."

Again, silence falls before Prowl starts talking again "They were not sure of their target before I looked over the suspect list and gave my input. After deactivating the bomb Jazz and I arrived after Barricade revealed his intentions. I was moving in to arrest him while Jazz and Mirage kept his attention, but he had grabbed Speedeagle and put us both out of commission."

"After that, he bashed through the road block and without Prowl and Speedeagle's help there was no possible way for us to keep up with Barricade, let alone catch him." Mirage finishes, posture more stiff than usual.

Drift allows his gaze to go from Jazz to Mirage and down to the floor where he can barely see one of Speedeagle's optics. Something is not adding up; when these three get sent out the report he normally gets is uneventful with little mishaps. He pulls up the reports he'd gotten from Praxus earlier to find that the space he'd given them to is blown to smithereens. For them to come back looking this beat up, the enemy escaped, their cover blown, and their charge captured, nearly lost to the Decepticons at that... "So let me get this straight" Drift says very slowly. He jabs a finger at Speedeagle "You got discovered and captured" he turns to Mirage "You nearly got blown up by a bomb that you should have noticed." Drift settles for just glaring at Jazz "And you allowed this mess to go public as well as nearly get a sector of the city blown up!?"

They don't flinch or bat an optic shutter and Drift finally realizes something as he glances at them. They had expected him to yell at them, to be reprimanded, and they are relieved because he hasn't done whatever it is that's making them antsy. Drift turns his gaze on Prowl "What the slag did you do to my team?" Someone growls, Drift isn't even sure who. Apparently that one thing they didn't want him to do was take it out on Prowl, but that doesn't make any sense.

"Enough" Prowl snaps at no one in particular and the growling ceases. He turns to Drift, narrowing his optics "I have done nothing to your team and while their mission was not a complete success, I can tell you that given their circumstances there is nothing that they could have done to change the outcome, there were too many variables out of their control." Drift opens his mouth to give the former Enforcer a piece of his processor when Prowl Cuts. Him. Off. "I ran the scenarios thousands of times on the way here, there was no other way. It won't do a single bot in this room any good for you to lecture them."

Drift jumps to his feet, placing his hands on the desk, is this mech really that stupid? "They're Ops agents, it's their job for them to get all the facts, remain undetected, complete their objective, and then leave without a trace. This is unacceptable and I will NOT have an ignorant Enforcer in my office telling me that the one time this team does not execute a very well done mission it Isn't. Their. Fault. Actually, I think you're right, it isn't their fault. Its Yours."

All of the sudden Speedeagle is standing on his desk, her beak very close to his face, too close. He falls back into his chair and she snarls at him, wings expanded in a very threatening gesture that blocks his view of the others. Drift glares at her "I can get you thrown in the brig."

Despite the madness in her bright, light blue optics, she answers him "I didn't touch you."

Drift gapes at her before Mirage's voice splits the air "Speedeagle, come. We should probably go see Ratchet." She glares at Drift a moment longer before furling her wings, turning around, and nimbly jumping off the desk. Drift watches her leave with Mirage before turning his optics on Jazz and Prowl. Jazz stiffens a little but Prowl returns the stare with a cold one of his own.

"If you don't need anything else, we should probably be on our way as well, sir." Prowl says after a few moments. Drift merely nods and the other two mechs leave. He leans back in his chair with a frown. _The best team I have on call, compromised because of one damn Praxian that started a chain reaction._ He'd threatened Mirage and Speedeagle into complying last time they showed signs of attachment, but it probably won't work a second time and nothing would work on Jazz.

* * *

As they catch up to Mirage and Speedeagle to go find Ratchet, the bases medic no doubt, Prowl makes a note to himself not to leave any of the Spec Ops agents alone with their commander in the near future. Speedeagle's antics had actually been the lesser of two evils because Jazz looked like he had been ready to attack his commanding officer himself. Mirage had been fine, right up until Drift mentioned throwing Speedeagle in the brig. Then again Prowl's battle computer helpfully points out that Prowl himself probably shouldn't be alone with the Head of Special Ops either, there's over a 50% chance that Prowl will end up strangling him, or shooting him. The fact alone that no one had gotten killed in that office is enough for now though.


	14. Beware Flying Wrenches

My muse has decided it likes me, so I'm gonna roll with it while I can. Oh, reminder:

_Speedeagle_

Mirage

Prowl

* * *

"Sideswipe!" Ratchet snarls at the silver frontliner. Ratchet can feel the nanites starting to change his paint color to white. Meanwhile he continues to dig through his subspace to find a good wrench to knock the bot offline for a little while. _Too small, not heavy enough, where's a good wrench when you need one?_ Sideswipe doesn't seem too keen on waiting for Ratchet to find a wrench and makes a beeline for the door. Ratchet swears under his breath, grabs a wrench at random, and aims as he pulls it out of his subspace. The prankster is already at the med bay doors when Ratchet hurls the wrench at him.

Now Ratchet has perfected his aim over the years and when it comes to hitting fleeing mechs, he tends to take most things into account. He had not however, accounted for some mechs trying to get _into_ his medbay while Sideswipe was trying to get _out_ of it. So when Sideswipe ducked to get around said mechs with a cheerful "Hey Jazz, party tomorrow!" The wrench lost its target and promptly crashed into the next thing in its path, which happened to be the helm of a monochrome Praxian, who promptly staggered back and would have crashed into the wall had Jazz not grabbed his arm.

Ratchet sighs "Stupid fragger, can't be bothered to give a warning" he turns to his new visitors. Speedeagle picks the wrench up off the floor and trots inside, offering the wrench back to Ratchet. He takes with a nod and subspaces it before turning his attention (and his scanners) towards the newcomers.

Jazz grins "Nice new paint job Ratchet, Ah'm guessing th' culprit just tore out o' here?"

"Sit" Ratchet jabs a finger at a berth "So I can take a look at that shoulder. Mirage I'll see about getting some plating from storage. In the meantime, make yourself useful and start popping dents."

Jazz does as ordered and Ratchet starts probing the old wound, checking what self-repair had already dealt with and what he'll need to do himself. "Why didn't you get this patched up yet?"

"Didn' have time" Jazz shrugs with the other shoulder so he doesn't disturb Ratchet's work. _  
_

"Of course, just because you fraggers know first aid doesn't mean you'll take the time to do it." Ratchet frowns a little as he remembers the room's other occupants and lowers his voice a little. "Who's the Praxian?"

"Prowl, snagged him from th' Praxus Enforcers at th' request o' th' Tactical Division."

"Might as well get the preliminary exam done while you're all here then." Ratchet finishes fixing the saboteur's shoulder and takes a step back, turning his attention to the other three. Mirage will need his plating replaced but that requires a trip to storage. Prowl needs a full scan and file for the records so Ratchet turns to Speedeagle. "Up on the berth, so I can see about those scratches."

She complies and Ratchet sets about welding all of her scratches. "Who'd you pick a fight with this time?" He gets a ping to his comm. and accepts.

:: Didn't, was keeping 'Cons away from Prowl. ::

"And obviously you suffered a fit of madness while you were gone. What happened?"

:: Captured, restrained, drugged, escaped. ::

Ratchet knows how security clearance works, so Speedeagle's brief explanation will suffice. He finishes the welds and taps her shoulder over a data port. She slides the armor back and he pulls out his wrist hardline cable, plugging in to scan her systems for any viruses picked up during capture. There's nothing to be found but she blocks him from immediately disconnecting afterwords.

:: Prowl captured too. Doorwing dislocated, I try to fix, check please? ::

:: Do you go out of my way to make my job more difficult? ::

:: Sorry Ratchet. ::

He disconnects and retracts the cable "Speedeagle, go down to storage and find some spare armor plates, I'm running low anyway. Feel free to terrorize whoever's on inventory duty if they don't cooperate." She chirps happily and jumps down, taking off out of the med bay. Satisfied, Ratchet turns to his last patient. "Prowl, right? I'm going to need access to your databanks so I can perform some virus scans, since you were in Decepticon hands for some amount of time. Before I do that, is there anything I need to know about?"

The mech doesn't answer right away and Ratchet does some external scans while he waits, figuring that Prowl is probably in the process of powering or turning off certain programs or strings of code. Everything appears to be normal, even though one of the mech's doorwings was supposedly dislocated a few solar cycles beforehand. "I apologize" Prowl frowns "I cannot completely power down my battle computer but it shouldn't give you any problems."

"Battle computer?" Ratchet frowns as he pulls his wrist cable back out and plugs it into one of Prowl's data ports. Sure enough, there's the typical firewalls that are pretty high-level, even for someone of Prowl's occupation. However, once Ratchet manages to get past the outer firewalls and goes to start his scans, he gets bombarded by the aforementioned battle computer. As sudden as the attack started it vanishes.

:: I apologize for that, I thought I had prepared myself properly. ::

:: That is...quite alright. I'm just going to start my scans now. ::

Ratchet activates his scanners and finds nothing dangerous anywhere in Prowl's systems, but he notices (he'd been paying attention to Prowl's battle computer) that Prowl had calculated a less than 10% chance there was a virus in his system.

:: Well I have all the information necessary for your file and while I'm at it I'll need to add a note about your battle computer. ::

:: Very well. ::

Ratchet disconnects and turns to dig out a data pad to start a new file for Prowl. Sure enough, there's a short hand record of Prowl in the database so Ratchet updates the file and transfers it to the datapad. He'd noted all of Prowl's weapon systems and adds them as well, though the mech will undoubtedly need to be tested by someone more suited to the task, probably Ironhide. As Ratchet finishes the shouts of several very unhappy mechs barely filters into the med bay. The doors slide back and Speedeagle skitters in, dragging a crate full of armor plates by an Energon rope.

Ratchet subspaces the data pad and walks over to where Speedeagle stopped. Then he digs through the crate and pulls out something about the size of what he needs. "Place the rest over there" he jabs a finger at a spot for the crate before turning his attention to replacing Mirage's missing plate. The work doesn't take too long and Ratchet finishes rather quickly despite having two impatient Ops agents and a wary Praxian waiting around. "Alright, now get out of my med bay" Ratchet snaps at the group, as the Ops trio refused to leave as long one of their own was being worked on which apparently now included Prowl. He'd tried forcing them out before but they always managed to get back in one way or another.

"Bye Ratch' thanks for th' help!" Jazz quips before following Speedeagle and Mirage out of the med bay.

Prowl pauses for a moment "Indeed, thank you Ratchet." With that he joins Jazz, who had stopped at the door, and they leave.

Ratchet just shakes his head, pulls out the datapad, and goes back to work.

* * *

"If I may ask, where can I recharge at?" Prowl glances curiously at the Spec Ops members he's following. They don't answer at first, staying silent as the four of them continue on their way.

:: _Well, you have two options really_. ::

:: What are they? ::

:: _You could sleep where ever the space can be found but that would put you at sharing a room with bots you don't know and may not be agreeable with you. I know you well enough to know you probably wouldn't like that so um.._. ::

:: Ya can recharge with us Prowler. ::

:: Are you certain I won't be intruding? ::

:: Nah, we've gotten used ta havin' ya around. ::

:: What Jazz means is if you're up before us we won't perceive you as an intruder and try to maim you. We also have some of the most secure quarters on base, so you won't be disturbed if you don't want to be. ::

:: Wait, the three of you all share quarters? ::

:: Somethin' like that, ya need ta see it ta understand. ::

Speedeagle suddenly bounds to in front of a door and quickly types in a code, admitting them inside. Prowl pauses when he gets inside, optic ridges climbing up as he finds himself looking at a very well set up sitting room. There's a workbench, a shelf for data pads, a desk, a couch, a set of chairs, s a platform set up in the rafters, and two doors leading out of the room.

"This is far from what I expected" Prowl comments. Mirage promptly claims the couch for himself and Speedeagle jumps up onto the platform in the rafters.

Jazz slings an arm across Prowl's shoulders "Wha' were ya expectin' then?"

"Nothing like this" The Praxian shakes Jazz's arm loose and Jazz grins as he walks past.

"Well, looks like Drift wants meh on monitor duty tomorrow, Ah'm gonna get some recharge." With that last statement Jazz disappears into one of the side rooms. Prowl walks over to the shelf and goes through the datapads, varying from weapon manuals to a few book files. He settles on one of the book files and takes one of the chairs before powering up the file.

* * *

Speedeagle peers down at the others since she's awake in the middle of the night shift for no apparent reason. Mirage is sleeping peacefully on the couch so Speedeagle turns her gaze to Prowl. He's fallen into recharge in the chair, book file still in hands though he's clearly been recharging for several joors. She huffs and jumps down, snatching the book file out of his hand and replacing it on the shelf. He stirs but doesn't wake so she climbs back up into the rafters. Her wings pick up a slight flux in someone's systems so Speedeagle gives a sub-vocal reassurance that everything is alright and they settle back down. When nothing else grabs her attention she stretches out and slips back into recharge.


	15. Of Threats and Tours

My muse ran away from me on this one, so it won't be too long, please enjoy though.

* * *

Prowl boots up the next morning and onlines his optics to find Speedeagle quite close to his face and staring him down. He jumps behind the chair and would have had a blaster in hand if Mirage hadn't caught his wrist. "Speedeagle that was un-necessary" Mirage reprimands her. She chirps at him and jumps off the chair, trotting past both of them out the door. Prowl twists his wrists out of Mirage's grasp and the spy lets him go.

"Don't you have work to do?" Prowl glances over his shoulder at Mirage.

"I have been asked to show you around and make sure you know everything you need to so you can be put on duty as soon as possible, today hopefully. Shall we start with the Rec Room for some fuel?" Mirage asks.

"That would be fine" Prowl answers and the two of them leave the room.

"You'll need these" Mirage sends Prowl a databurst as they walk. Prowl sorts through the two files sent to him; one is a incomplete base map and the other is the complete version as well as the layout of the ventilation system marked with different colors.

Prowl frowns at the second one, he shouldn't have access to it. "I understand the first but-"

Mirage cuts him off "Jazz insisted. Speedeagle added the second layer to the second map and took the liberty of marking them. If the vent is gold she can move through it quite quickly and if its silver it may take more time. It depends on the size of the vent and relative traffic in the area. You tend to know when we're around so we decided it would be better to just tell you."

"Why would Jazz insist that I have a complete map?"

The spy shrugs "Here we are" they walk into a fairly empty room. "Normally there's more bots but right now we're in the middle of a shift so it isn't too bad. Sideswipe said he was planning a party and that will be here too. If you don't want to get stuck attending the party I suggest you get your Energon early so you don't have to deal with it. I'm on the night shift and won't be attending."

"Thanks for the advice" Prowl gets a cube from the Energon dispenser for himself as Mirage talks and gives the spy one too.

Mirage nods in thanks and takes a swig from his cube. "Normally we could sit and talk but there's someone you need to meet and if we don't hurry he'll be on shift."

"Alright, lead the way."

* * *

The door chime sends Sideswipe hiding under his berth "I didn't do it!"

Sunstreaker frowns at his twin "What did you do this time?"

"...I don't know?"

Sunstreaker sighs and sets his sketch to the side, getting up to answer the door. "Mirage, what do you want?" Sunstreaker frowns at the red mech. Then Sunstreaker's optics move to the black-and-white, Enforcer marked, Praxian by Mirage. Sideswipe had talked about seeing this one yesterday.

Wordlessly, Mirage subspaces a datapad and hands it to Sunstreaker. The golden frontliner grabs the datapad and powers it up, frowning at the familiar handwriting.

_"Sunstreaker Ah'm callin' in one o' th' favors ya owe meh. Prowl needs a repaint an' Ah thought ya wouldn't complain 'bout not owin' meh as much. If ya wanna get outta another favor ya gotta promise meh, 'Raj, an' 'Eagle that ya won't make any advances on Prowler. Same goes for your brother if he wants outta a favor too. Break said promise an' we'll do th' two o' ya over like Ah did th' last time Ah had to prove mah point._

_ -Jazz"_

Sunstreaker shudders as he reads the last line. The last time Jazz made a point he landed Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in the brig for a prank they didn't do AND stole all of their supplies, pranking and paint alike: if the other two Ops agents got involved well... Sunstreaker sends Mirage a private comm.

:: Right then, I'll take those terms. ::

:: Sign at the bottom, your brother too. ::

Sunstreaker shoots him a glance but the spy shakes his head. He doesn't know then, exactly what the datapad says, just the basics. Sunstreaker finds a stylus and signs and Sideswipe does as well after reading the contents. The silver prankster then takes off to go move his stash as Sunstreaker turns his gaze on the Praxian.

"Right then, I'll get my paints and we'll head to the wash racks." Sunstreaker collects his stuff as he talks and then leads Prowl down the hall. Mirage appears to have left but Sunstreaker knows better than to assume he actually did. _Well, things are certainly going to be interesting around here._

* * *

Near the end of the solar cycle Prowl trudges down to the Rec Room, following the map Jazz had insisted he have. Prowl had deleted the first one after marking the commonly used corridors where his presence wouldn't be questioned. After getting a repaint from Sunstreaker (Prowl has to admit that the golden frontliner did quite a good job) Prowl had given his oath of fealty to the Prime and completed a full combat analysis with Ironhide before finally being introduced to the tactical division.

None of the bots in the division have even a quarter of the tactical inclination that Prowl does. The department head had decided that Prowl would work best analyzing all the data on the Decepticons gathered by the Spec Ops to predict the enemy's movements. Prowl had to agree that the task was perfect for him as he got so engrossed in his work he hadn't noticed the time until well into the night shift.

As Prowl nears the Rec Room the vibrations of very loud music irritates his doorwings. He slips in, trying to be as casual as possible as he makes his way to the Energon dispenser. Luckily, all the other mechs in the room seem to be preoccupied with the music and each other and Prowl gets a cube unmolested. In fact, he almost manages to get out the door before being cut off by a very familiar silver form "Hello Jazz."

"Heya Prowler, sure ya don't wanna stay?" The saboteur gives Prowl a lopsided grin, either a little overcharged or simply being himself.

Prowl decides to get out before he crashes his logic center "No thank you." He slips past the silver mech and is halfway down the hall before he pauses. The other members of the tactical division hadn't said anything about him getting his own quarters. This late everyone is either recharging, at the party, or in the middle of their shift. Prowl sighs and turns to head back to the Rec Room, coming face-to-face with Jazz.

"Ya need th' code ta get into our quarters?" Jazz asks, a very smug look on his face.

Prowl schools his own face into a look of neutrality "Considering no one else has offered a place for me to recharge, yes."

Jazz laughs and sends Prowl a databurst. "Whatever ya say Prowler, don't worry, none o' us will wake ya up."

"Right" Prowl fights the urge to roll his optics before turning and heading back to get some recharge before tomorrow.

* * *

Jazz heads back to the party, joining Speedeagle at a corner table "So what's our total?"

"At least half the mechs here; I mislead most of my share" the femme answers, sipping a cube of high grade. She'd managed to transform to bipedal mode for the last half a joor. "We're just lucky Prowl doesn't know the likelihood of getting in and out of one of these parties like he did."

"Good thing ya spotted him 'fore they did; Ah don't doubt Prowler one bit but some o' these bots..." Jazz shakes his head and downs his own cube.

"Yep" Speedeagle finishes her cube and transforms into her alt mode. "I'm going to head back, don't stay out too long."

"Do meh a favor 'Eagle" Jazz glances at her but she just grins and jumps up onto the rafters, crossing the crowded room easily. Instead he gets a ping to his comm. link.

:: _Don't worry, I'll make sure you end up on the couch. _::

:: Thank ya. ::

* * *

AN: Of course Jazz would know how to strike fear into even the twins without laying a finger on them. I'll admit this turned out better than I was hoping.

Feedback is appreciated.


	16. Well That Was Awkward

Well, my muse has decided it wants to play hide and seek. Fun. Don't forget:

_Speedeagle_

Prowl

Jazz (with accent of course)

Mirage

I'm apparently off to go play hide and seek. Please enjoy.

* * *

Speedeagle stirs and does a full body stretch. She jumps down from the rafters and checks her schedule. _Drift I am going to offline you, monitor duty? Seriously?_ She sighs and heads for the door, but pauses, something in the back of her processor nagging her. The sense is like what she gets when she's forgetting something. A quick sensor sweep and a glance around the front room shows that everyone else is still here. No one is in the front room though, so everyone must be back in the berth room. She shrugs, shaking the feeling off, and trots out the door to go check in with Red Alert for the start of her shift.

* * *

Jazz onlines as quickly as he normally does, noticing a few things as he boots up. First of all, he's clearly not on the couch as he asked Speedeagle to make sure he was. Second, there's a warm frame sharing the berth he's laying on. Curious, he onlines his optics, hoping that either Mirage or Speedeagle had decided to share. After all, Speedeagle gets lonely on occasion and when there's been a bad mission the three of them tend to just find a comfortable way to recharge together.

All of that flies out the window when Jazz lays eyes on the back of a Praxian who's doorwings are taking up most of his field of vision. He stills and silently curses whatever circumstances that landed him here. Then Jazz turns on the team comm.

:: 'Eagle, Ah'm gonna make your life Pitt. ::

:: _Oh yeah...I had a feeling I was forgetting something when I left this morning...eh heh... _::

:: Be quiet, I'm trying to recharge. ::

:: _Sorry Mirage_. ::

:: Mah bad. ::

Jazz glances around and sighs. Prowl had decided to recharge on the berth closest to the door, which is where Jazz normally sleeps after a party. He retreats and slides off the berth, careful not to jostle the Praxian. He slips out into the main room and stretches, narrowing his eyes at Mirage. "Why are ya chargin' in th' front room?"

The spy growls, optics off "Because Speedeagle left and you obviously weren't going to get up, now will you please leave me in peace? I've got another shift in a few joors and I'd like to get some recharge."

"Go back to berth, 'Raj, I'll be out here" Jazz grins.

"Fine" Mirage get up and Jazz steps out of the doorway so the spy can slip past. It takes a day or two for any of them to make the transition from mission back to being safe at base. Speedeagle usually keeps watch on those nights (since she never gets sent out as much as them) and that lets Jazz and Mirage sleep, knowing the femme's keen optics are keeping a lookout for them. Jazz sits at his work bench and accesses one of the files he has for weapon modifications, reviewing the contents to pass the time.

* * *

Prowl boots up from the processor crash, finding only a quarter of a joor has passed. Jazz is gone as is evident by the lack of a frame and the accompanying heat by Prowl's doorwings. The shock of someone getting that close without waking his had threatened to induce a processor crash and finding out that it was Jazz HAD induced a processor crash. Prowl shudders, how Jazz had managed to get onto the berth without waking Prowl is quite confusing. Prowl sets his battle computer to try and figure it out before onlining his optics and sitting up. Mirage is occupying the room's other berth so Prowl tries not to make much noise as he steps out to the living space.

"Heya Prowler" Jazz glances up from a datapad, a large grin on his face.

"Jazz how many times must I tell, it's PROWL not "Prowler"" Prowl glares at the saboteur. Jazz just grins and turns back to the datapad. "You do not seem like one to sit around and read."

"Ah'm looking at upgrading mah blaster an' wanted ta see if Ah've got th' plans for anything tha' seems helpful" Jazz turns the datapad so Prowl can see several section headings for different weapon upgrades.

"Dare I ask if that is legal?" Prowl raises an optic ridge.

"For what Ah do, yep" Jazz powers down the datapad. "So when's your shift?"

Prowl frown, curious as to what the saboteur is up to. "Not for a few joors, why?"

"Can Ah borrow your rifle an' blaster? Ya don't need ta have those still since they're 'Con make. Ah can get ya somethin' more your style."

Prowl shrugs "Logical enough" he rifles through his subspace, frowning. "Um Jazz, it seems I no longer have them."

"Wha- oh" Jazz subspaces both weapons and sets them on the work bench. "Guess Ah disarmed ya in th' middle o' recharge last night."

"You what?" Prowl stares at the saboteur. "That's impossible, I would have woken up!"

"Prowler, mah missions are supposed ta be impossible. Stuff like this is 'lot easier ta meh."

"That would make it twice that you've invaded my personal space in one night!"

"What was th' first time again?"

"When you decided to recharge on the same berth?" Prowl prompts.

Jazz grins sheepishly "Oh yeah, ya see-"

Someone grabs the back of Prowl's helm and slams it into Jazz's before dropping them both to the floor. Mirage drops his invisibility shield, already out of reach. "Will you two fragging shut up already! I've scarcely gotten three joors of recharge and I can't do that every single solar cycle!" Prowl arches an optic ridge at the outburst, those seem to be more up Speedeagle's alley. "I'd honestly rather put up with listening to Bluestreak for an hour straight or be stuck rooming with Sideswipe!"

"Mech, that's just mean" Jazz frowns.

"If you'll excuse me I'm going to go find somewhere quiet to spend the few remaining joors until my shift starts." The spy turns on his heel and heads out of the room. Prowl barely hear him cursing under his breath. "I'm starting to think it'd be quieter if you two were just fragging each other."

Then Prowl's processor crashes.

* * *

Jazz sighs as he pulls the downed tactician into a chair.

:: 'Raj Ah swear if Prowler remembers what ya said on th' way out- ::

:: I'm only going to say this once Jazz. I'm. Not. In. The. Mode. ::

::_ What did you do? _::

:: This is one o' th' times when ya need ta just be quiet 'Eagle. ::

:: _I'm sure I'll find out_ later. ::

* * *

Ah ha! I have found my muse, I think, I'm pretty sure. I'm probably going to have to up the rating my next update, for safety's sake. Though I don't see things getting much worse than already are I could be wrong though.


	17. First is the Worst

AN: This one kind of just...jumped up and grabbed me. There's no real way to explain other than the fact that it was extremely fitting for what I have planned. I won't keep you any longer, enjoy.

**Please note there has been two-three week time skip since the last chapter.**

* * *

The worst case scenario was supposed to have been a minor scuffle: a Minor Scuffle. Instead it had turned into the worst battle with the Decepticons yet. Jazz was on a simple mission with the CTO (who could only come along because the mission was supposed to be easy) and Smokescreen to try and raid the tactical plans of a minor, poorly defended outpost not far from Iacon. However, the bot who had gotten the base's Intel had failed to mention that Soundwave was apparently coming to do an inspection. Now Jazz himself could hide from Soundwave long enough to complete the mission but add in two mechs that aren't Ops agents and it just won't work.

The whole base had mobilized against them and the only backup Jazz could call in that would arrive fast enough to be of use was Speedeagle. He had sent a comm. to Iacon for backup and then contacted Speedeagle since by herself she could arrive before the bulk of the Autobot forces do. Apparently some seekers had noticed Speedeagle flying over to the outpost and tailed the femme here to join in the fight as well. Of course this particular trine was Starscream's when he's supposed to still be in Kaon.

Jazz and the tacticians had managed to lay low for a little while and Speedeagle did a fine job of distracting the Decepticons. Eventually Soundwave had organized them to conduct a thorough search. The Autobot force sent as backup arrived just as the Decepticons finally flushed out Jazz and the tacticians, starting in the minor scuffle that should have been the worse case scenario before the trio was sent running for better cover.

_No, this solar cycle is definitely not looking good._ Jazz twists around the boulder and fires off a couple shots, managing to kill one mech and wound another. He glances over at the tacticians, similarly pinned down behind another boulder. The Autobot reinforcements had arrived moments ago but Soundwave had planned appropriately so the 'Cons weren't caught too off guard. Jazz grits his teeth, he needs to get the tactical officers out of here and start rigging some bombs. Jazz lets out a very high, shrill whistle that Speedeagle had taught him and 'Raj a while back.

The femme must have been close by to have heard him, because she flies up and drops down into the midst of the 'Cons, followed by a very battle hungry Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Satisfied the 'Cons are occupied, Jazz sprints over to the two tacticians. "Ah hope ya don't need a medic 'cause Ah think these three left 'em all behind" Jazz nods at their rescue team.

Smokescreen nods "We have the Intel and if the battle escalated as quickly as we think, no doubt there's a tactical hub somewhere back behind the front lines."

Jazz grins "Prowler would do somethin' like that if he came. Ah've got mah own work ta do so Ah can't escort ya back." He glances at the Twins and calls them over "You two take these guys back ta th' others. Meh an' 'Eagle have ta do our jobs." The two frontliners nod and the four of them leave. Jazz turns on his comm. link.

:: Prowler- ::

:: Jazz, I need you to rig a few charges, plant them here. ::

A databurst accompanies the instructions and Jazz browses them quickly. Soundwave may be able to monitor the main frequencies but the private comm. is hard to monitor unless a bot knows to look for it. It helps that some of the encryption code is an audio file of one of Speedeagle's high pitched screeches and may short out the intruder's processor temporarily. Prowl knows that of course, and continues with his instructions.

:: Speedeagle, we don't have any air support so conduct some aerial guerrilla tactics. Try not to get shot down by Starscream and his trine. Mirage, take out the Decepticon snipers. Jazz- ::

:: Ah'll comm. ya when Ah'm done, Prowler. ::

The tactician doesn't answer, probably turning his attention elsewhere with the flow of battle. Speedeagle chirps and pulls Jazz's kit out of her subspace, handing it to him. He glances at her "Prowl" she answers before taking a running start and launching herself into the sky. Jazz grins and melts into the shadows on the outskirts of battle to get started on those bombs.

* * *

Prowl sighs, glancing down at the battle field from his perch. The spot where he'd set up at isn't too high above that battlefield; he can only see about half of what goes on. The battle could be worse since Megatron and Optimus are both are halfway across Cybertron and most of the officers are still back at base. Prowl scans the battlefield again, searching for Smokescreen and his superior officer. They would no doubt pick up some Intel on the Decepticon's battle formation on their way back.

A slight smile threatens to form on Prowl's face as he notices Decepticon sniper fire is dropping, making Autobot frontliners more bold in their advances. Then there's Speedeagle, diving down and coming back up at random all the while avoiding Starscream's missle fire. He and his trine have taken down more Decepticons than Autobots in their attempts to shoot down Speedeagle. All-in-all the battle is unfolding slightly like Prowl had in mind.

:: Ah got th' chrages placed like ya wanted meh ta, Prowler. ::

:: Evacuate our forces and dotonate them, all at once. ::

:: No problem. ::

After a few kliks several explosions go off, downing some Decepticons and splitting the rest up. The Decepticons are by no means beaten but at least their forces are scrambled now. Without central communication though, trying to coordinate an offensive is nigh impossible. Prowl scans the battlefield again and freezes. Immediately he levers himself over the edge of his perch and absorbs the impact of the short fall before continuing on his way.

"Smokescreen" Prowl eyes the other Praxian, who had collapsed, probably from the damage to his doorwings. Prowl glances around, raising his voice "We need a medic!" One of the other bots says that Ratchet is on his way and Prowl subspaces the rifle he'd gotten from the armory. He keeps an optic out for stray Decepticons but it seems that this sector, at least, is clear. Ratchet drives up behind Prowl and transforms. Prowl moves out of the way, knowing the medic doesn't like anyone getting in between him and a patient. "Would it be possible to bring him online" Prowl asks after letting Ratchet do his scans.

"With this kind of damage, no" Ratchet glares at Prowl. "I'm taking him back. You put that battle computer of yours to work and coordinate an offense."

"Soundwave is here, trying to coordinate an offensive without central communication is difficult. I cannot figure out an alternative to coordinate such an attack that gives a success rate higher than 53%."

"Ask your Ops friends, maybe they have a clue." Ratchet calls another bot over and they haul Smokescreen off the field. Prowl frowns for a moment, Ratchet had given him an idea.

:: Mirage, come in. ::

:: Yes Prowl? ::

:: I need you to round up the frontliners and get them organized. ::

:: There's one problem with that, they're not very fond of me. ::

:: Ah'll take care o' it Prowler. ::

:: See that it's done. Mirage start taking down any Decepticons that seem to be in charge of the smaller groups. Speedeagle, continue to keep Starscream and his trine busy. ::

:: Alright. ::

:: _Too easy_. ::

* * *

Jazz jogs up to Prowl's side as the tactician watches the fleeing Decepticons. The sabotuer stops beside him and stays quiet as the last of the Decepticons flee. "We sustained heavy losses" Prowl comments after a while "Far higher than were necessary."

"Ya did all ya could Prowler, if we'd known Soundwave was gonna be there Ah can guarantee ya no bot woulda gone on that mission." Jazz stills as he hears another bot walk up, but can't see anyone.

"I agree" Mirage speaks on the other side of Prowl "It would have been suicide to take that mission had we known."

Prowl doesn't answer and Jazz glances at the tactician. "Th' first battle's always th' worst, let's just find 'Eagle an' go home."

"Actually" the anger in Mirage's tone is odd. Jazz cranes his head around and Mirage holds out a datapad. Before Prowl can grab it Jazz snatches it up and turns it on.

"This...ya can't be sayin' th' 'Cons actually Killed 'Eagle are ya?" Prowl takes the datapad from Jazz and examines it.

"No" Prowl scans the datapad and nearly drops it in shock "They...they did kill our CTO though."

Jazz grabs the datapad "Then..." he finds a heading at the very bottom of the report.

_PoWs:  
Speedeagle_

"Prowler, Ah think yer gonna need ta start drawin' up some plans when we get back ta base. It seems we need ta pay a little visit ta Shockwave."


	18. Here We Go Again

AN: Expect this chapter to be different from previous ones. After all, the past few times I've used Speedeagle's POV she was (mostly) sane. Feedback would be appreciated.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reads this every time I do updates, just seeing how many views I get in one day cheers me up.

* * *

Speedeagle notices several things as she boots up. For starters, her legs are chained to the floor and her beak is bound. Her wings are tied down to, the sensors in them tingling from the wires being pinched.

_What happened?_ No memories resurface to explain how this happened. She scents the air, wondering if there's someone around to tell her what's going on. The smells that sweep through her are enough to explain exactly what happened: Decepticons.

Her optics quickly online and she jumps to her feet, scrambling to keep her balance. She's in a cell and notices the Decepticon scents are stale, old; they haven't been in since they put her in here. The room is dark with the only light coming from her optics but that's the only light she needs. She observes four cells, the bars of each in varying stage of rust.

A door opens and the room floods with light, but Speedeagle's optics quickly adjust to the excessive light. The light is gone as the door closes again, but that doesn't leave her blind either. Across the room she see the Decepticon who came in and notes his Seeker frame. "Well well well, look who's awake" that screechy voice makes Speedeagle's audios twitch, though they aren't very sensitive.

She growls at the Seeker and would have flared her wings in an attempt to intimidate him had she been able. "You should count yourself lucky that Shockwave insisted you be delivered to him immediately" Starscream sneers. "I would have enjoyed interrogating you myself."

Another growl, this one so strong Speedeagle's whole frame vibrates with the sound. She notices Starscream subspacing something small, small enough to hide in his hand. She tries to back up as he approaches the cell but her restraints are too tight. Then the world goes black.

* * *

"Do not worry my liege, I do not require the battle computer to make her of immediate use to us." That voice, that hated voice greets Speedeagle as she onlines again. No telling how long she'd been out, doesn't matter anyway.

"I trust you won't disappoint me Shockwave, I'll leave you to your work." The other voice, hated but not as much so, leaves. Speedeagle onlines her optics and hauls herself to her feet. In a cell again, though there are far more this time and less rust than before. The smells are different too, but are far fewer than in the other place; the one that left, the one still here, another prominent one nearby, and one or two older scents.

The one-opticed mech examines Speedeagle from the other side of the bars, keeping his distance. That simple action translates wariness and a hint of fear. She growls at him, but the mech doesn't even twitch. No fear then, just wariness and that isn't helpful. The mech takes scans and a few Energon samples despite Speedeagle resisting.

"Tomorrow I will transport you to a containment cell in my lab and begin my work. First I must review this data" the one-opticed mech leaves. Speedeagle growls, fear mixed with anger rising quickly and making her frame tremble. _Not again, never again. Bad mech, experiments wrong, not safe, not humane. _Speedeagle can feel her sanity slipping up until she's too far gone to care.

The third scent in the room that she'd noticed before and dismissed gets brought to her attention again. Something about it is familiar, welcome but annoying, respected but grudgingly. Speedeagle hobbles to the cell bars and manages to stick her head out. She looks around and spies a mech in the cell next to hers, watching her with dark, depressed blue optics.

"I wasn't expecting them to be able to capture someone else while I was here, let alone you" the mech says after a few moments. "How many 'Cons did you manage to take out before they brought you down, Speedeagle?"

She cants her head to one side, looking curiously at the mech. He shakes his head and tilts it back to rest against the wall. "Forgot, your optics are almost white so you're about five to ten kliks from a rampage and completely incoherent. At least there aren't any Decepticons around to set you off." Speedeagle growls as the mech.

"Got it, no using that dread "D" word, alright?" The mech raises his hands in a peaceful, non-threatening gesture and Speedeagle quiets again. "I guess I never gave Jazz and Mirage enough credit for being able to put up with you."

Speedeagle continues to watch the mech, the names he'd said seem familiar. The mech sighs and looks at her "I'm probably not gonna make it out of here. You though, they'll probably be able to save you." The mech scoots over and slips his hand through the bars and offers his hand. Speedeagle looks at the hand and then the mech. His posture reads submissive and non-threatening. She stretches her head out and lets the wrist cable hook up to her.

:: Here, just make sure the others get their respective messages. Chances are our captors won't root through your processor. ::

The mech gives her a file and withdraws from her mind, then settles back in his spot against the wall. Speedeagle looks at the file and finds a message and several attachments inside.

_If you're reading this (and comprehending it) then you've escaped from you-know-where. I don't think you realized who I was so I figured this would be best. Give the attachments to their respective owners and no one else. I'm sorry I've been selling you short all these stellar-cycles._

_Till all are one  
__Drift__  
_

Speedeagle, in her haze, frowns at the undecipherable text and files it away, absentmindedly marking it to be reviewed later. Then she withdraws into her cell and settles on the floor, dreading the return of the hated mech but hoping for a chance to tear him apart.

* * *

Jazz leans against the wall just down the hall from the meeting room, arms crossed behind his head. Hopefully Prowl is getting clearance on the missions he drafted up over the past seven solar cycles to rescue Speedeagle. Shockwave can set up a lab almost anywhere, but given Speedeagle's volatile nature Prowl had narrowed things down to five possible locations and developed a detailed plan for each.

A smile forms on Jazz's face. Prowl had taken his promotion quite well and the tactical department had never been running so smoothly. Everyone, even the other officers, is impressed with Prowl's efficiency and attention to detail. That's a good thing to begin with, but it favors him with these mission requests.

Jazz stands up straight when the doors open and Prowl walks out, walking straight past Jazz. A flick of a doorwing indicates that he should follow and Jazz jogs after Prowl. He casts a sidelong glance at Prowl, noting that his doorwings are in a sharp V making him intimidating, but are also twitching in annoyance.

"Ah take it they said no?" Jazz asks.

"I almost managed to convince them all, but Drift insisted the missions were suicide no matter who went on them" Prowl's tone carries a hint of loathing to Jazz's sensitive audios.

"But he knows wha' th' 'Cons are tryin' ta do! 'Eagle ain't that smart or tough but if we don't get her back th' 'Cons'll have an assassin who knows every way in an' outta Iacon!" Jazz uses a sweep of his arms to indicate the base as a whole. "An' if they make her crazy an' she gets in here..."

"She could wipe out half of our command chain easily, not to mention any unsuspecting passerby" Prowl sighs. "It would be too late to subdue her even if they managed to raise the alarm fast enough."

They both fall silent as they go through the tactical division and head back to Prowl's office. No one says a word to them, they knew what Prowl had been up to, and they knew the repercussions if the higher ups couldn't be convinced. Jazz slips ahead of Prowl into the office, flopping into the chair across from Prowl's while the tactician shuts the door.

"Ah say meh an' 'Raj do th' missions anyway."

"Then we would be disobeying a direct order, Drift made that very clear." Prowl settles in the chair behind his desk and starts examining one of his datapads.

Jazz hums thoughtfully as he considers what Prowl just said. "What if Ah wasn't defyin' orders?"

"How would you not be?"

"Ah bet ya Drift will send meh out ta one o' those bases where Shockwave might be within a few solar cycles. Ah could look for 'Eagle while Ah'm doin' mah other mission." Jazz knows it's true and Prowl does too; Drift can't keep his best saboteur off the field for long.

Prowl actually pauses at that "It may work, but it requires time and we don't know how much time we have. Speedeagle was captured seven solar cycles ago, we don't know when she reached Shockwave or if she's still en route to his lab. Even I can only guess. That strategy will only work if she's there and if you can get to the right base the first time."

"Then ya need ta figure out where th' 'Cons are keepin' 'Eagle."

"There is a 35% chance she's at Kaon and a 25% chance she's at Tyger Pax. The other three bases split the remaining 40% between them."

"Ah'll talk ta th' other agents, see what Ah can do ta get meh an' 'Raj out there. Ah don't care what Drift says, we're gettin' 'Eagle back."

"Is Mirage even well enough to take a mission?"

"'Raj may be a bit outta it but Ah think he can handle Tyger Pax."

"You would search Kaon then?"

"Yep"

"I'll make the proper plan modifications and arrange the time lines accordingly. Though we must consider the possibility that Red Alert might have heard this conversation."

"Ah offered 'Sides a chance ta lower his debt by distractin' Red until Ah can modify th' security tapes."

Prowl actually smiles slightly, to Jazz's delight "You are devious to the extreme, Jazz."

Jazz grins and stands up, heading for the door. "Ah think ya love mah deviousness. Ah'm off ta go find some mechs goin' on missions an' update 'Raj. Later, Prowler." He glances over his shoulder to wink at the tactician and leaves before Prowl can get the last word in.

* * *

AN: Bet you didn't see that coming did you?


End file.
